Rise of the Phoenix
by AmalgamationofFaces
Summary: Five years after the events of Big Hero 6, the sudden reappearance of Tadashi forces Hiro to learn to overcome a new set of challenges. It looks like it's Hiro's turn to be the big brother, and apparently Tadashi isn't quite... normal. Rated T for medical issues and future violence. Alive!Tadashi child!Tadashi. I do answer reviews through PM, so if you have any questions, just ask!
1. The Storm

**Quick Author's note: I wouldn't have been able to do this without some motivation from a friend of mine, so a quick thank-you to her for getting this started.**

It had been five years since Tadashi's death and the subsequent conflict with Callaghan that had made Hiro and his group of friends instant heroes in the eyes of San Fransokyo. As the years had passed and his relationships with these new friends grew stronger, Hiro had been able to come to accept and move on from Tadashi's death. This didn't change the fact that he still had moments where he missed his brother deeply. He hated that as he grew older and came to look more like his deceased brother, a glimpse of a mirror out of the corner of his eye was enough to renew the small ache in his chest that, though greatly lessened, never truly went away.

The distraction and hype of being 'heroes' quickly diminished as the public came to realize the lack of need of a full-time group of young superheroes. Though they would be sure to be called upon should the need arise, the team was free to resume working on their projects from before the convention, or in Fred's case, provide team spirit and fantastic, if unscientific, ideas.

Hiro had finished college easily in three years, ditching bot fighting permanently to go on to work in the medical field, primarily orthotics. He pursued the profession of designing and creating improved prosthetics for amputees, using the technology of microbots in conjunction with standard prosthetics to allow for a greater range and control of movement. He also continued working on Baymax, keeping him updated on new medical procedures, while making sure to preserve a back-up chip of Tadashi's data in order to lessen the probability of losing the core of who Baymax was.

Two years ago, shortly after graduation, he took up the project of creating two new robotic nurses, with all of the protocol but none of the personality of Baymax, and sent them to the major hospitals of San Fransokyo as a test of their ability to assist in real-time hospital work. He kept Baymax nearby, not having it in his heart to part with him, considering he was the most important physical remnant of Tadashi that remained.  
>Though they went their separate ways after graduation, the team made sure to stay in touch.<p>

Gogo went on to become a competitive cyclist, while creating a whole new line of bicycles based on her electro-magnetic suspension prototype. It was rare that her prized bike be allowed in a standard race, but when it was, she never lost. Not that she did much losing anyway.

Honey moved to England, becoming a leading scientist in the field of chemical engineering, and continues to send photos back detailing her side-trips to Paris, the result of her latest concoction, or what she had for lunch at the small café on the street corner; she isn't picky.

Fred would drop in every now and then, raving on about the latest edition of whichever comic series he had devoted his attentions to that week, while sometimes alluding to some family secret involving his dad and a secret room and a family island. With his tendency towards conspiracies and dramatic plots, the team doubted the veracity of many of his claims, since most of them were likely the result of some convoluted dream. Honestly, who has ever heard of a superhero room devoted mostly to super-undies?

Wasabi had attained his Master of Science degree in applied physics and was working towards his doctorate of engineering science in applied physics, specializing in plasma physics. He was also the most likely to stop by the small café to chat or even help out on Slam Poetry nights when business was at its peak.

His help became all the more valuable after an afternoon roughly a year prior on which Aunt Cass had tripped over Mochi, falling down the flight of stairs leading to the café. She initially complained of a headache, and Baymax confirmed a mild concussion, suggesting bed confinement until the symptoms died down. In the weeks to follow, any attempt at resuming work resulted in a sharp headache, nausea, and dizziness, and though Aunt Cass would insist she was all right, Hiro would demand she stay in bed and had Baymax scan her after each episode. The only treatment available for a concussion was to allow it to heal on its own, but Aunt Cass continually insisted on doing what she considered minor activities whenever Hiro wasn't around to determine otherwise.

One day, Hiro came home from a follow-up meeting with a hospital, one of the few in which a robot of his worked, to an empty café and a message from Wasabi telling him to come back to the hospital he had just arrived from. Baymax had activated from his charging station upon hearing Aunt Cass's cry of distress when she had once again tried to get out of bed in Hiro's absence. A quick scan had confirmed a hemorrhagic stroke incited by a secondary head trauma gained when she fell out of the bed. Baymax was able to take her to the hospital in less time and with less impact than an ambulance would have been able to considering the traffic.

Hiro hadn't even thought to check his silenced phone after the meeting and upon reentering the hospital discovered that his aunt was already in surgery in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Baymax and Wasabi were in the waiting room with him initially, Gogo and Fred came by when they heard, and a video chat with Honey Lemon completed the team as they waited for news.

Hiro's nervous pacing was interrupted when a kind, human nurse lead him back to the room where his aunt lay on a hospital bed. The nurse was quick to assuage his initial fearful reaction by informing him that while his aunt was in a coma from the damage done by the build-up of blood in the brain, she had slight reflexive responses to pain, indicating a possibility of recovery upon her awakening. She assured him that any change would be reported to him and upon detailing visiting hours, which he already knew as he was at the hospital often enough, lead him out of the room.

A year passed, and though there had been moments of activity beneath her eyelids, nothing had really changed. Hiro kept the little café in business, running it on his own during the times he wasn't needed elsewhere. Though he contemplated creating robots with the sole purpose of running the café, he decided against it. It wouldn't feel like home anymore if he did.

* * *

><p>On an abnormally stormy morning, Hiro trudged downstairs and opened the shop, not surprised at the lack of customers for the first couple of hours. The torrent of rain made it nearly impossible to see the streetlight out the window or to distinguish anything more than the headlights of the cars of the few brave souls that decided their destination's importance trumped the dangers of San Fransokyo's weather.<p>

Around midafternoon the storm abated to a light, if persistent rainfall, allowing a few regulars to trickle in. It was a short day, boring as most were when he wasn't absorbed in his latest project. The time approached the six-o-clock closing time, and the café had been completely empty for the past half hour.

Hiro had closed the register and was about to lock up when a bundled up child wandered in, dripping water all over the place. His heavy coat's hood was pulled up and a bright red scarf that was certainly not sized for a child was wound multiple times around his neck; it almost completely covered his face. As the child began to struggle to loosen the scarf, Hiro went over to assist, wondering at the lack of an adult coming after the child.

"Hey, little one. Did you wander away from your parents?"

As he reached the child, he bent down to his level just as the scarf was left successfully unwound around his neck. The child reached up to take off his hood, revealing soft brown eyes that Hiro recognized immediately. Pushing black, rain-soaked hair back off his forehead, he smiled widely up at Hiro, showing a small gap between his front teeth like Hiro had.

Hiro's mind froze as he tried to process the possibility that -_that maybe_... impossible, _there's no way that-_ while outwardly he just stared in shock. But when the child spoke Hiro's name quietly, his voice, though definitely not as deep as it had been, caused warm tears to build up behind his eyes.  
>"Tadashi?" Hiro choked.<p>

The child nodded his head gleefully. Tadashi jumped, practically knocking Hiro over, and wrapped his small arms around him in a tight hug, which Hiro quickly returned as tears began to escape the corners of his eyes. Hiro could feel the much smaller version of his brother start to shake.  
>"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry I left you, Hiro."<br>"But, but how? How are you alive?"

"I-I'm not sure, it's kind of blurry." Tadashi pulled away slightly and looked at Hiro with slightly misted eyes. "I remember flames and warmth, and it should have hurt, but I don't remember any pain. The only thing I remember after that is growing up in the orphanage."

Tadashi took another step back, taking a deep breath and fiddling with his scarf as he gathered his thoughts.

"I didn't think anything of it at first, but I heard them whisper about me being pulled from a burning building by a fireman looking for survivors and how they didn't think my parents had made it since no one came looking for me. They were going to put me up for adoption, before I got too old for people to want me."

Tadashi looked around the café, taking everything in. "A week ago, I started to remember everything, well, everything from before. It started in little snippets, flashes of our parents, you, Aunt Cass, going to SFIT. I tried asking about it, but they just looked at me funny. I used one of the computers to look up the incident of the burning building that I had been found in. The reports said they never found Tadashi's -my- body." He shrugged his shoulders a little. "Everything sort of fell into place after that."  
>Hiro was still confused, and still had hundreds of questions, but his joy of having his brother miraculously returned to him overcame that. He wrapped Tadashi in another hug, picking him up as he stood.<br>"I missed you so much Tadashi. I love you."  
>Tadashi laughed. "I love you too, little Bro."<br>Hiro gave him a skeptical and partially teasing look. "I'm not the little one anymore. How old are you anyway?" He was pretty sure already, but he wanted to confirm his suspicions.  
>Tadashi thought for a moment before holding out his little hand with all of the fingers extended.<p>

"Five."

Hiro couldn't help but laugh, thinking of all the brotherly payback the little one would have in store for him.  
>He had him back. After five years, Tadashi was here, looking around the café while resting his head on his now bigger brother's shoulder. Hiro turned and took him straight up to Baymax, heading over to the red charging station while setting Tadashi back on his own feet.<p>

Standing over it, Hiro spoke in the most deadpan voice he could muster.

"Ow."  
>Baymax had been spending too much time with Hiro, and, because he learned to socialize through the interactions around him, had gained a sense of humor and the ability to be sarcastic. Upon inflating, the first thing Baymax said made Hiro double over with happy tears and laughter.<br>"I told you, Tadashi is here."

**This will be continued whether you like it or not, but reviews are welcome and a good indication of how much work I should put into getting out the next chapter quickly.**


	2. Settling In

**AN: This chapter was going to have more in it, but I came to a good stopping point. This just means chapter 3 will come out that much quicker. Thanks again to my friend for motivation and being someone to bounce ideas off of. :)**

Hiro looked over from his desktop to see a sleeping Tadashi through the open divider. It hadn't taken long after reuniting with Baymax for the five-year-old's eyelids to start drooping, and, after he shed his coat and boots with a little assistance from Hiro, he curled up with his scarf in the middle of his old bed and was dead to the world in seconds.

Hiro chuckled softly at the memory of Tadashi's petulant face when he discovered he didn't quite have the dexterity to unbutton his jacket all the way, and how he completely refused Hiro's offers of help until he realized his arms were stuck in his partially off jacket. It seemed that there were some things that his mind was ready to do, but his body had not quite caught up to yet.

Hiro turned back to the task at hand: obtaining official possession of Tadashi. It had taken him well towards half an hour to find the particular orphanage Tadashi had been living at, since he failed to ask him before he went to sleep, and there was no way he was going to wake him up now. It was a larger one, named oh-so-originally San Fransokyo Orphanage. Apparently, since Tadashi had not been put up for adoption officially, he was still considered a missing person, and an adult family member who could prove relations was free to claim him with minimal paperwork required. With Aunt Cass still in the hospital, Hiro was quite glad that he counted as an adult at nineteen and could claim Tadashi without her. Hiro called and they said they would send over a representative within the hour with the proper paperwork.

"Hey, Baymax, could you get a DNA sample from Tadashi without waking him? Also, run a thorough scan on him, just in case." Hiro slid his chair towards Baymax, who had looked up from the side of the bed he had taken silent vigil over.

"Yes, Hiro, the needles I have been equipped with cause minimal pain and should not wake him." Baymax started to withdraw a sample of blood into a ballooned finger, turning it a pale red. Tadashi barely stirred. "Also, I already scanned him when you first brought him up. Aside from natural reactions to being out in the rain for an extended period of time, Tadashi is in perfect health."

Hiro handed Baymax a small vial to place the extracted blood in, and offered his own hand for the same process. "Yeah, well do it again. You might have missed something."

"I do not miss things, but I shall do as you command, Master Hiro." Hiro rolled his eyes at the 'title' that Baymax saw fit to address him with when he thought he was being unreasonable. Baymax handed Hiro the two vials, one that he labeled with a large 'T' and the other, more recently filled one with a large 'H'.

"Scan complete. I again reassert my previous observation that Tadashi is in perfect health, though perhaps I should remark on a few significant changes."

Hiro scoffed, "Of course he has a "few significant changes"; he was an adult, and now he's five. I should hope he's different."

"That is not what I was referring too." Hiro froze, turning now worried eyes towards Baymax.

"What do you mean? What's wrong?"

"There is nothing wrong, I already stated that he is in full health. However, though his DNA is largely the same, and the changes should not affect the test you plan to use them for, there are significant physical changes. For instance, though they maintain a healthy density required to prevent breakage, his bones are now hollow, in the same way that an avian's would be." Baymax pulled up an x-ray of Tadashi's arm to provide proof.

"...What? No, this has to be a mistake, scan him again."

"It is no mistake, the abnormality appeared in both scans and was not present before the fire when I scanned Tadashi during my creation."

Hiro's eyes darted around the room as he contemplated this new reality, trying to find something to center himself with, his eyes finally returning to the sleeping form on the bed.

"Well, I guess that isn't so bad. I mean, if it doesn't hurt him, then I guess there is nothing wrong with it. It does explain why he was so light for a five year old." Hiro glanced up at Baymax, dreading the answer to his next question. "Is that all?"

"No." Hiro's heart sank to his stomach even as he remembered that Baymax had _said_ Tadashi was perfectly healthy. Baymax continued, "I have also sensed an anomaly that I believe resulted from his falling asleep. When you delivered him to the room, his body temperature matched yours at 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. However, upon his falling asleep it has fluctuated between that and 115 degrees, but with no negative effects to his well-being and with no sign of an infection that might prompt the body to respond in such a way." Hiro reached out his hand and gently laid it on Tadashi's forehead, careful not to wake him, and felt the heat coming off of him.

"And you're absolutely positive he isn't sick?" Hiro didn't want to take any chances with his brother, certainly not so soon after getting him back.

"I am 97.4 percent positive that unless some new illness has learned to superheat a person without harming them, Tadashi is not sick."

"Haha, very funny." Hiro didn't appreciate the approach that Baymax took to allay his fears, though admittedly he caused it in all likelihood. He couldn't imagine losing his brother again to something as trivial as a fever, especially with a fully functioning medical robot residing in his home. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the doorbell downstairs, and he grabbed the two vials, placing them in his jacket pocket to avoid scaring someone who was potentially not the representative he was expecting to see at the door.

The representative seemed surprised that Hiro already had DNA samples, but when Hiro explained about Baymax, she relaxed and asked if she could see him and Tadashi before going on her way, if only to affirm that Tadashi was in safe hands. A quick peek upstairs and she was convinced, and she handed a small packet of papers to Hiro that would sort out Tadashi's existence since he had been found so young and without any identification.

Hiro saw her out, silently grateful that it had gone so painlessly, and that he now had a way of reentering Tadashi into the world. Hiro laughed at the idea of Tadashi having to interact with actual kindergarteners, though he doubted that it would actually occur. Though his body lacked the strength and dexterity of an adult, his mind held too much information to go through school again the normal way. Besides, Tadashi would probably accept nothing less than being reinstituted at SFIT with his friends. Hiro's mind crashed to a halt at this thought. The _team. _They didn't know. They were still living in a world where Tadashi had perished in the fire five years ago. He had to tell them!

Hiro's hand was halfway to his phone before he remembered the likelihood of the team barreling into the café to see their long-lost friend. It wasn't even nine at night; they would definitely make it their number one priority. Well, Honey would take a significantly longer time to arrive than the others, but there would still be no way that Tadashi would be able to remain sleeping or to get any sleep that night if he told them right then. Hiro debated just calling Honey Lemon, but remembered that in England it was barely past four thirty in the morning. He decided that the entire team would find out in the morning when Tadashi was ready. He looked over at the curled up form across the room, making out the gentle rise and fall of Tadashi's chest and couldn't stop the smile that broke across his face as he reached over to turn out the light. _Tadashi was back. He had his brother back._

**A.N.: Yes, I am aware that this is not typically how it would work in the real world, but this is my world and I am taking artistic license over the actions of the orphanage. I don't want the legal battle over Tadashi to be the focus of the story, though it would make a decent plot, that is not where I am taking this. Yes, there is a plot, and yes there will be conflict. Just wait and see. :)**


	3. The Hamada Brothers

**AN: I've decided that I'm going to start updating biweekly on Saturdays and Wednesdays. The chapters will get longer from here on out, and hopefully will be better quality.**

Tadashi's eyelids fluttered open, squinting at the sunlight peeking through the window. Putting his legs over the side of the bed, he carefully lowered his feet onto the wooden floor. The cold seeped through his socks, but quickly warmed to a tolerable temperature, at least until he took another step. The floor had always been cold in the mornings, especially in the winter months when a persistent chill would permeate the upstairs apartment regardless of how much heat the single vent pushed into the room. Tadashi didn't think it should be _this _cold so early in November, but chalked it up to having simply forgotten what it was really like in his absence.

He toddled down the stairs to the bathroom, and afterwards grabbed a blueberry pastry from the counter. Making his way back into the room he shared with Hiro, he took a minute to look around 'his' space, taking note of the lack of the clutter that littered every surface on Hiro's side of the room. In fact, it looked like it hadn't been touched in all the years of his absence, except for the textbooks that were on the top of his old dresser... that he couldn't quite reach. Huffing, he looked around for something to stand on when his eyes landed on his little-big-younger-older brother whose covers had slid off of the bed.

Tadashi laughed fondly as memories of Hiro falling asleep watching a movie, half draped on the couch and hanging precariously on the edge came to mind. He had always had to move or resituate Hiro to prevent him falling off completely... or startle him and watch the mad scramble of limbs as Hiro tried to regain his balance and most of the time ended up on the floor before jumping to his feet and swearing revenge that usually involved variations of putting Tadashi's toothbrush in something vile. Not that Tadashi ever used the red toothbrush in the cup in the bathroom, but rather the blue one he had stashed away in case Hiro ever acted upon his threats.

He was brought abruptly back into the present when Hiro stirred, not awakening, and shivered in a subconscious response to the low temperatures of the room. Tadashi found that lifting the winter comforter from the floor proved too much for his five year old strength and debated just going back to sleep himself, since prior experience told him that attempting to drag Hiro out of bed at seven in the morning was practically impossible, if not more so now that he couldn't physically do so. Making up his mind, he pushed Hiro's chair to the edge of the bed and locked the wheels in place, climbing up on to it and then onto the bed. He curled up next to Hiro, facing away towards the computer screen so that they were back to back; the way they used to sleep if and when either of them had had a nightmare during the first few years after their parents had passed away. It didn't take long for Tadashi to drop back to sleep, lulled by Hiro's steady breathing and the faint ticking of the clock on the opposite wall.

Hiro woke up to the feeling of something extremely warm pressed against his back, similar to the sensation of one of Baymax's warming hugs that came in handy as the temperatures took a dip or if he got caught out in the rain on the way back from work. Sitting up, he turned to look at Tadashi, wondering if it was a nightmare that had brought him over, mentally chastising himself for sleeping through it. He slid off the bed and gathered up the covers on the floor, bundling them up at the foot of the bed to straighten out later. Grabbing his jacket from the bedpost, he dug phone out of the pocket, and sent a quick text to Honey Lemon, asking if she would be free to video chat in a little while. Considering the clock showed a little after nine in the morning, Honey Lemon would be preparing for dinner soon, and he wanted the whole team to be as present as possible for the surprise.

While waiting for a response, Hiro began to wade through the paperwork, filling out everything he could without Tadashi's input. Would Tadashi want to register as a new person, or somehow regain his old identity? Feeling a headache coming on, he slipped the papers back into their folder and headed downstairs to treat himself to some of the leftovers that couldn't be sold tomorrow and to prepare for the day. After a quick shower, Hiro checked his phone again to see the message from Honey confirming her availability to talk and her insistence that Hiro could call her whenever he needed to, since sleep could always be made up. Included in the text was a picture in which Hiro had difficulty making out the subject since there was so much _pink_. Apparently an experiment had gone horribly wrong... or wonderfully right knowing Honey Lemon, and a majority of the workspace was colored a single hue, with a wildly smiling, similarly colored Honey in the center.

Chuckling to himself as he headed upstairs, Hiro debated what he should tell his other friends in order to get them over to the café, since it wasn't even open. He had been ordered by Wasabi to set aside at least one day where he wasn't required to do anything or to be anywhere. He had claimed it would help with stress, a claimed backed up by Baymax, and while it was admittedly nice to have a day to himself, most of it was usually spent sleeping or tinkering with prosthetics. Tadashi couldn't have picked a better day to show up on his doorstep, as he had all day to get things relatively under control. Entering the room, Hiro spotted Tadashi sitting up on the bed, sleepily rubbing at his eyes.

"Morning, Tadashi." Tadashi blinked owlishly up at Hiro before grinning widely.

"Ohayo, Hiro." Suddenly, an idea struck Hiro. Holding out his phone to Tadashi, he asked, "Do you want to do the honors?"

"The... honors?" A number of possibilities flashed through Tadashi's mind, but he wasn't sure what Hiro was referring to. "What do you mean?"

"We've got to tell Gogo, Fred, Wasabi, and Honey Lemon that you're back. Considering they were your friends first, I figured you should call them to tell them the good news and invite them over." Hiro mentally congratulated himself on his solution to the problem, but Tadashi didn't look impressed.

"You do realize I don't sound anything like I used to, don't you, knucklehead? And besides that, if Gogo answers her phone to me while driving, she is probably going to cause a wreck."

"Oh, please. A call from a friend that has been presumably dead for the last five years and is speaking in the voice of a child isn't going to cause her to crash." Hiro paused for a moment to ponder the absurdity of that last statement, but Tadashi wasn't finished.

"I didn't mean from the initial shock. I was referring to a wreck, that she may or may not be a part of, caused by less than legal methods of getting over here. Why don't you just invite them over for lunch?" Hiro stared at his brother. It couldn't be that simple. Hiro looked down at his phone contemplatively as Tadashi went over to his side of the room and started to pull his coat back on.

"Hey, wait. What are you doing? That thing's still wet! You'll get sick." Tadashi looked up at him with his eyebrows drawn together and the beginning of a pout on his face.

"But I'm cold." A flash of worry crossed Hiro's face. It really wasn't that cold in the room; what if Tadashi had gotten sick overnight? Hiro went over to Baymax's power station and activated him, demanding that he scan Tadashi again for illness.

"Tadashi is still in perfect health, Master Hiro." Tadashi shot Hiro a look, mouthing _master?_ Hiro waved off the question, deciding he'd deal with it later.

"Okay, Baymax. Whatever you say." In place of the damp raincoat, Hiro gave Tadashi one of his navy blue hoodies, having to roll up the sleeves multiple times to keep them from falling over his hands.

While Tadashi busied himself with getting ready for the day, Hiro called each of his friends, knowing that Fred might miss a text message and that they would be more likely to agree to attend if the alternative was to verbally tell him 'no'. The three that were able agreed to attend, and Honey Lemon, in between various tangents on what she was working on and how Hiro needed to call her more often, agreed to a video chat within the hour.

Hiro went downstairs to prepare the lunch he had promised the team, mentally kicking himself, because yes, it was that easy. Just as he finished draining the pasta, Tadashi wandered in and pulled a chair up to the counter, pulling up his hood and settling his head on folded arms as he watched Hiro bustle around the kitchen.

"I don't remember you being that good at this." Hiro automatically knew exactly what his brother was referring to, which was known in the Hamada household as the 'Hot Wing Debacle of Hiro's Senior Year'. Needless to say, Hiro had been summarily banned from the kitchen until he could show enough proficiency to not set off every smoke detector on the block.

"Excuse you, I'm a genius. I figured it out eventually." Hiro carefully moved the chicken wings to the oven, setting a timer to hopefully prevent the previous occurrence from happening again.

"Mmm, I smell cooked starch." Surprisingly, Fred was the first to arrive. "Hey, Hiro, you stuck babysitting or something? We should totally go teach him some ninja moves before his parents come back to get him. It would be the start of our secret ninja army." Tadashi started giggling into the crook of his arm while Hiro simply grunted noncommittally, pretending to be absorbed in his task to avoid giving it away before the others arrived. However, Fred would not be so easily deterred.

"So, what's your name, little guy? What horrendous evil did you commit to get stuck with this guy as your babysitter?" Tadashi was saved from answering when the door to the café swung open to reveal a windswept Gogo with a biker's helmet tucked underneath her arm.

"That food better be ready soon, or I'm going to start eating the merchandise." Gogo set her helmet on a hook and glanced around the café before popping her gum. "Who's the kid?"

Hiro added the butter to the pasta before turning off the heat and glancing in the oven at the wings before responding, "What do you mean? You've known him for years." Gogo rolled her eyes, thinking Hiro was being a smart-alec.

"Not Fred, the little one. Though I can understand how that could be confusing. Oh hey, Baymax." Hiro mentally thanked the med-bot for his excellent timing.

"Hello, Gogo. Hello, Fred." Turning to Hiro, he asked, "Should I commence the video chat with Honey Lemon now?"

"Yeah, that'd be great." Hiro glanced at the clock above the stove, wondering where Wasabi was, since it went against his nature to be late to anything. Almost as if to answer his silent question, a harried looking Wasabi burst through the doors of the café.

"Sorry I'm late! An undergrad bumped into my tool table and I had to set everything straight before heading over."

"Dude, relax. We just got here. Is wearing your safety goggles on your head a new thing? Do I need to get some?" Fred seemed to seriously consider this idea as Wasabi scrambled to remove them and place them in his messenger bag. Tadashi grinned widely against his arm; he had missed this. Hiro tried to placate Wasabi as he pulled the finished wings out of the oven and began to soak them in sauce.

"Wasabi, it's not like you are technically the last person to arrive-"

"Who's the last person to arrive?" Honey Lemon's voice came from the screen on Baymax's stomach. Hiro laughed and Tadashi started to get jitters from the anticipation.

"That would be you, Honey Lemon." Hiro started to prepare the plates. "How many wings do you want, Tadashi?" Tadashi jolted at being so unexpectedly addressed, while the others froze and looked at Hiro, silently questioning his sanity.

"Just two, Otouto." He pushed back his hood and reached for the proffered plate.

"...Wait, what?" Gogo was the first to recover, but Tadashi decided to have a little fun before explaining himself.

"Well, you see, I'm not very hungry, and to be honest, I'm not sure if I trust bonehead's cooking." Tadashi struggled to keep a straight faced as Hiro made a noise of mock offense.

"Just for that, mister, you're going to have to find your own food from now on." Hiro pointed the tongs at Tadashi in a manner that would have been threatening if not for the grin fighting to take over his face.

"Yes, which will be such a hardship, living in a café and all. Whatever shall I do?" The brotherly banter was so familiar, Tadashi forgot for a moment that there were other people in the room attempting to process what was going on.

"Hiro, did you clone him? Are you sure it's not an alien? Maybe the aliens cloned him! What's my middle name?" Fred's last rapid fire question was directed at Tadashi as he stared at him as if trying to read his mind to discern whether he was real or not.

"Sebastian. I'm not a clone! ...I think." Tadashi looked truly troubled at this thought before Hiro launched into the explanation Tadashi had given him about being pulled as an infant from the burning wreckage of the building he had 'died' in. Baymax in turn relayed what he had gathered on his multiple scans of Tadashi, leading Fred to a whole new string of theories. He had gotten past the insistence that Tadashi would have super powers from this occurrence, and was rambling off the list of supernatural creatures he could be such as dragons and the phoenix when Gogo cut him off.

"So let me get this straight. Tadashi's back and living as a five year old kid with messed up bones and a temperature issue." Gogo paused for a second as if considering something, but before Fred could launch into another explanation of why Tadashi _had_ to be a phoenix, she continued, "Is he housebroken?"

Hiro sputtered at the question, as it seemed to come completely out of the blue. He hadn't thought of that, but Tadashi answered with a vehement yes, though his face was bright red and he looked like he was beginning to regret not waiting a few more years before seeking them out. Hiro glanced over at Wasabi to see him looking around the café in an increasingly agitated manner as Gogo continued with her line of questioning, "Can he read? Can he write? How much does he remember? Do you have clothes that fit him?" Trying to avoid answering questions that he didn't know the answers to, Hiro made the mistake of asking Wasabi what the matter was.

"This place is _not _safe for a child! The area under the sink is not locked; he might drink the cleaner! Those knives are the perfect height to pull down on top of him. Is there lead in the paint on the walls? What if he slips down the stairs? What if he walked out the door?" Tadashi stared at his friend incredulously as Hiro explained that it was _Tadashi,_ he wasn't mentally five, and there would be no reason for him to drink the cleaner under the sink.

"Unbelievable." Turning towards the screen, hoping to find a relief from the insanity that had taken place, Tadashi discovered why Honey Lemon had been so silent. She had gone to get her camera and was taking pictures of the screen, asking Tadashi to smile and show off the gap in his teeth while rapidly detailing how she was going to book the next flight over and transfer her work station and she was going to make a new scrapbook and take Tadashi to the park and... Tadashi tuned her out, firmly deciding that all of his friends were insane. Awesome, but insane.

Tadashi's train of thought was interrupted as he was swept into a (figuratively) bone-crushing hug. Gogo's voice was strained as she ordered him to "Never do something like that again, you idiot." Fred and then Wasabi quickly joined her as it turned into a group hug.

"Aww, no fair! I wanna hug him!" Honey Lemon partially got her wish as Baymax joined the group and Hiro finished it off. It was all very sweet until,

"Can't... breathe..."

Everyone laughed and released Tadashi, as Gogo ruffled his hair with a "Serves you right, punk."

"Is no one going to eat the wondrous meal that I slaved over?" Hiro broke the mood and everyone went to grab his or her plates. They broke into their separate conversations as Gogo and Fred began quizzing Tadashi on what he should remember, and Wasabi pulled Hiro slightly to the side.

"So, how did he take the news about your Aunt Cass?" Hiro cursed his brain for having failed him just as Tadashi turned his head sharply towards the pair.

"What do you mean, 'about Aunt Cass'? What happened?"

**AN: for those unfamiliar with Japanese, Otouto means specifically 'little brother', which would be strange coming from a five year old addressing an adult. **


	4. Aunt Cass

**A.N.: There will be a hospital scene in this chapter, but it isn't too graphic.**

The café went silent while Hiro performed his best imitation of a deer in the headlights of an eighteen-wheeler on a narrow mountain highway. Didn't Wasabi know that young children heard everything they weren't supposed to? Hiro's eyes darted everywhere but his brother's accusing stare as he tried to come up with the least painful way to put it.

"Umm..."

"You haven't _told_ him?" Not helping, Gogo. Tadashi was looking increasingly upset; was it getting hotter, or was it just Hiro? The smallest Hamada brother got down off his chair and walked up to Hiro, reaching up and grabbing onto his sleeve while looking up at him, demanding an explanation.

"Told me _what_? What's going on Hiro? Where's Aunt Cass? I thought she was on a trip or something. Why isn't she here?" Tears started to brim Tadashi's eyes even as he tried to stay calm; this used to be so much easier, why couldn't he keep it together? Abject fear was building inside Tadashi as he started to consider every worst-case scenario, the roar of flames dancing at the front of his mind.

"Hey, it's okay. It's going to be okay." Hiro knelt down and pulled Tadashi into a hug, feeling him tremble slightly. "Aunt Cass is just staying at the hospital until she is ready to come home." He knew it was stretching the truth a bit, but it wasn't a lie, per se. Tadashi pulled back from the embrace, looking more angry than fearful.

"I'm not going to break if you tell me what's going on! Why won't you just tell me?"

Hiro sighed. He hadn't really expected Tadashi to leave it at that, but at least he didn't look like he was about to fall apart anymore. There was a glint in his brother's eyes that told Hiro that he wasn't going to have a choice in what was about to be decided.

"I want to see her. Take me to the hospital."

* * *

><p>The group took Wasabi's van to the hospital, since it was the only mode of transportation big enough for Baymax to squeeze into, and there was no way Hiro was going to let the five year old Tadashi ride on Hiro's bike, even if it used to be his. The video chat with Honey Lemon had ended with Honey promising to purchase plane tickets and contact her project manager. Fred had gone home, having received a call from his dad, and the team let him go, knowing how rare visits were.<p>

The ride to the hospital was tense; it was completely quiet except when the silence was broken by an expression of exasperation from Gogo towards Wasabi's overly cautious driving.

"We have a child in the backseat, there's nothing wrong with caution. Does he need to be in a child's seat?"

"He'll be fine, Wasabi. At the speed you're going, the roof and seatbelts could be gone and we would still all be perfectly safe."

Tadashi ignored Gogo and Wasabi's banter, opting to look out the rear window. Baymax had lit up a soft orange and was offering his warmth in comfort, but Tadashi was too preoccupied to appreciate it. After having threatened to walk by himself to each of the surrounding hospitals if Hiro didn't take him, Hiro had finally caved and told him most of the story. Aunt Cass was in a coma, and though her muscles had atrophied, leaving her looking like a sleeping skeleton, there was still a high chance of recovery if she would just wake up. He had warned that it would likely be a short visit, since there wouldn't be much chance for meaningful interaction. Tadashi didn't care, having heard many theories that a coma patient could hear the voices in the room, and he was determined to at least speak with her.

Wasabi dropped the brothers and Baymax off at the hospital's front door, going with Gogo to find a parking spot in the crowded parking garage. They would hang back in the waiting area until the brothers were finished, due to the hospital's limited visitor policy and the need to give the two some privacy with their aunt.

Walking up to the check-in desk, Hiro was greeted by the receptionist. "Welcome, Mr. Hamada. What can I do for you today?"

"We're just here to visit our aunt, in room 214."

"Ah, yes. I should have guessed. I'll ring someone to lead you right away." Having pressed the buzzer to summon an attendant, the receptionist turned back to the pair. "Who's this little one? He doesn't normally come with you."

"This is my brother," here Hiro paused, uncertain of what to divulge to this stranger when Tadashi's very existence was still being worked out. Tadashi solved his dilemma as he reached up, offering his hand to shake to the receptionist.

"My name's Tadashi." The receptionist shook his hand, before a slightly puzzled look came over his face.

"Now, why does that name seem so familiar?" His train of thought was interrupted as the orderly in charge of 214 arrived to lead them to the room.

"Right this way."

* * *

><p>Tadashi paused outside the door, trying to mentally prepare himself for what was inside. He tried to convince himself he was being silly, it was just Aunt Cass. He had been in plenty of hospital rooms while developing Baymax, so it wouldn't be too different from that, right? So why was he so hesitant to enter? Hiro had already entered, and he could faintly hear him telling their aunt that he had brought a visitor. That was his cue; it was time to go in.<p>

Taking a deep, if shaky, breath, Tadashi reached up to the door handle and let himself in with Baymax's semi-comforting presence following after. He kept his gaze on the floor as he made his way over to where Hiro stood next to the bed.

Hiro chuckled, trying to break the atmosphere, "No need to be shy, say hello." Tadashi wasn't being shy, and he wasn't scared of his aunt, but rather scared for her, as if one less person seeing the state she was in would make her situation less true. He guessed Hiro was just trying to give him an impetus to start talking. He lifted his gaze to the form on the bed, and his voice caught in his throat even though he had prepared for this; he had expected this. It was eerie seeing the way her frail bones rose and fell with each breath, the way she lay so still, her close-cropped hair fanned out against the pillow as if it hadn't been disturbed since her head had last been lain there.

While the medical side of his mind was taking note of her ability to perform involuntary tasks on her own and the benefit of having a room in which she was next to a window, the more personal side of his mind was struggling to match this Cass with the one that had shown up in his memories. She had always been lively, zipping from table to table at the café, when she was making sure she had everything in stock for the upcoming week's business, or even when she was lecturing or talking about the latest occurrence in the shop, she was prone to gesticulate, her arms doing half of the speaking for her. Tadashi cleared his throat and tried again to address her.

"Hey, Aunt Cass. It's me, Tadashi. I'm back. I know I don't sound the same, but it's me, honest. I found Hiro, and he's taking good care of me, though his wings aren't near as good as yours are..." Tadashi's voice broke on this last word, the tears in his eyes threatening to well over. Hiro noticed an orange sheen cover Tadashi's eyes as he held back the tears, and prompted him to continue speaking. Before he could, however, Baymax interrupted him.

"Hiro, look." Hiro glanced over to see Baymax pointing at the readout on a particular screen, the one monitoring brain wave activity. The line that had been nothing but a series of shallow waves for the past year had spiked around the time that Tadashi had started speaking to her, but was quickly returning to its previous state.

"Tadashi, keep talking." Hiro kept his eyes glued to the machine while Tadashi began again.

"Um, I got to see the gang again. They were all rather shocked, but took it rather well. We got an impromptu child safety inspection courtesy of Wasabi, which we didn't pass, but it's okay since I'm not actually a child..." As Tadashi continued to recount the events of his short return, Hiro watched as Cass mentally responded as her brain waves moved from a deep dreamless state to one of mental imagery, and held there. It wasn't consciousness, but it was the longest sustained reaction they had received during the totality of her time in the hospital.

"-Wasabi still drives like a retired police officer, but on the way here he actually ran a yellow light instead of slamming on his brakes." Tadashi paused, having run out of things to say for the time being. "I guess I've taken enough of your time, but I'll be back soon, and I'll keep coming back until you decide to wake up and come home."

Tadashi turned to Hiro, who joined him and said his own goodbyes to their aunt, his eyes still on the monitor as the following silence allowed it to return to the dreamless state. The trio left the room and followed the orderly back to the waiting room where Gogo was popping her gum and Wasabi had taken it upon himself to alphabetize the magazine selection, muttering to himself as he did.

"Home and Gardens is an 'H' and will go right after Health and—Oh! Hey guys, how'd it go?" On their way out, Hiro explained the phenomenon that had occurred with increasing excitement, reaching for his phone to text Fred and Honey Lemon the news. Scrolling through his messages, he laughed.

"Unbelievable. Looks like Honey Lemon is catching a flight in a couple hours and will be here early tomorrow morning, 1 a.m. early. Looks like somebody missed you, Tadashi." The entire group was going to be in one town again, granted Fred didn't disappear with his dad like he sometimes did. Wasabi had a project to get back to, but after dropping the brothers, Gogo, and Baymax off at the café, he promised to meet them at the airport around midnight to meet Honey Lemon. Gogo offered to stick around and hang out, but Hiro declined, thinking of the paperwork he still needed to work through with Tadashi, and made a similar agreement to meet at the airport. Gogo said she would let Fred know about the meeting, and she was out the door with her bike helmet under her arm.

Back upstairs, the Hamada brothers were debating the merits of reinstating Tadashi's old identity versus creating a new one. Tadashi was determined to resume his old life with as little change as possible, though he recognized the difficulties with that course of action. He absolutely refused to start over completely, which Hiro had expected from the beginning, even if it made things more difficult. Making up his mind, Hiro first made a copy of the incomplete forms, in case they needed to change, then filled out one set with Tadashi's original identity. They could deal with the problems as they came, and not stress about them before. Realizing it was going to be a late night if they were going to meet Honey Lemon, the brothers decided to sleep and have a late dinner before heading to the airport.

* * *

><p>Despite the long flight, Honey Lemon was practically glowing with excitement as she rushed to the baggage claim, her dark blue carry-on bag slung over one shoulder. Her favorite red and yellow one had pulled a disappearing act when she was packing, but this one served its purpose; the other one would likely show up when the rest of her stuff was shipped to her. The flight had arrived earlier than planned, but her friends would be there soon, and she would get to see Tadashi! Preoccupied with her thoughts, her shoulder collided roughly with someone she tried to pass on her way to get her luggage.<p>

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry." She had picked up a British accent during her time away, so she realized she probably sounded like a rude tourist, rather than a rushed local. Golden-hazel eyes looked up at her blearily, as if he hadn't even noticed; clearly some people suffered from jet lag more than others.

"Hm? Oh, it's fine." Honey barely heard him, though, as she had already continued on her way to the baggage area, only to find she had gone to the one for connecting flights from London, whereas she had flown straight through. Spinning on her heel, she headed back the other way, only to feel another collision and a sharp sting on her upper arm. In an overwhelming bout of dizziness, in which her arm and, soon after, her neck, numbly locked into place, she felt her bag slide off her shoulder as an arm guided her to a seat, before disappearing.

Blinking as the dizziness faded and she regained sensations in her arm and neck, she looked around to see that both her bag and the person she had run into were gone. She checked for the small, thin bag under her jacket that she kept her passport, cell phone, and cards in and was relieved to find it still present. Slightly shaken, but not unable to function, she made her way over to the proper baggage claim and reported the robbery before gathering her own luggage and making her way over to the meeting gate. Things like this weren't too uncommon, though she personally had never experienced it before; she had been prepared from a young age to keep the truly valuable things close to her person and hidden. Putting it out of her mind, she smiled at the sight of Wasabi, punctual as always, waiting for her, with Hiro and little Tadashi making their way towards him from the door.

Squealing slightly, Honey Lemon made a run for them, smothering Tadashi in hug to the amusement of the others.

"Hey, don't I get a hug?" Hiro jokingly chimed in. Honey Lemon distributed an equally exuberant hug to both Hiro and Wasabi, before turning to give one to Gogo as she walked through the door.

"Hello to you too."

Wasabi took note of the single suitcase. "Travelling light, are we?"

"Well, the majority of it is going to be shipped to where I'm staying, since there was no feasible way to bring everything I needed with me in one trip. I had another bag, but it got lifted and-"

"Wait, wait. You got stolen from?" Hiro looked like he was ready to lock-down and search the entire airport to recover her property. The others had equally worried and determined faces, but she was quick to dissuade them.

"Really, it's fine. I didn't even like the bag and I just had some clothes, a book, and... oh. My camera was in there." She paused for a second to mourn its loss, but quickly returned to her line of reasoning, "Everything can be replaced, and it isn't like I even saw who it was. It's been reported, and that's all that is to be done about it right now." The others grudgingly accepted this, but Tadashi was still confused.

"How did they even get the bag from you? It's not like you to just leave your stuff somewhere." When she described the sharp pain, they checked under her sleeve for an injury, and sure enough, there was a small, slightly bruised injection site.

"Man, I wish Baymax were here, I'd have him scan it for traces of toxin. By the time we get back, it'll probably be too faint to identify." Hiro looked troubled at this, but acknowledged that there wasn't anything they could do at the moment. "Looks like we will just have to keep an eye out for this sort of thing."

"What are we keeping an eye out for?" Fred had finally arrived, and after getting his welcome hug, was filled in on what had happened. "Why do I miss the fun stuff?" The team laughed at him and headed back to their vehicles to meet up at the café for late night hot chocolate.

* * *

><p>Back-alley litter danced across the concrete in the bitter November air, skirting around two figures, one significantly larger than the other and rifling through a dark bag, tossing most of its contents into the alley floor.<p>

"Now, what have I told you about stealing from locals, Jadoku?" The smaller figure waited a while, as if considering how he should respond.

"It wasn't deliberate, she sure didn't sound it." Brushing dark red bangs out of his face was a nervous habit he knew better than to do in front of the larger man, but a habit was just that. He cringed when he realized that his insecurity had been noticed with a cruel grin from the other man. "She won't do anything; the paralytic injection kept her from even seeing me. It's not as if the bag had anything she'll particularly miss."

"And you count this as a good thing?" The larger man held a couple of crumpled twenties and a relatively expensive camera in his hands. "I suppose I could make a couple hundred off this camera, with the right person, but you know I expect much more." He began to flip through the pictures for amusement, and partially to see the other man squirm as he awaited his fate, deleting them one by one. He paused as he came to one in particular.

"Well, would you look at that? See, I never forget a face, particularly one who has taken something that belongs to me. Two years is a long time to spend off the streets, and it seems like little Hiro has something to compensate me with." The picture in question was one in which an older Hiro was looking fondly at a young boy, possibly around kindergarten age, who was smiling up at him. Further pictures only solidified the idea in his mind, as the wheels began to turn.

He held out a single twenty abruptly to the smaller figure, who startled, but quickly accepted the proffered bill. It wasn't much, but it was better than the alternative.

"I'll let you off with a warning this time. But Jadoku," the larger figure paused, knowing that silence was a worse threat than any he would verbalize, "be sure to pick your marks better next time."

Golden eyes glinted in the streetlight as they turned to the larger figure, before they were hidden by red as the smaller figure, Jadoku, politely bowed.

"Of course, Yama."

**A.N.: And the villain appears. The next chapter will be much more lighthearted than this, since it will involve Honey Lemon, Tadashi, and multiple stores.""


	5. Shopping with Honey Lemon

Hiro would have loved to sleep in. He had no qualms about opening up the café an hour or two later than normal, considering the early crowd on Sundays consisted of a single person, who also came later in the day for afternoon coffee. He didn't even need the money. There was no conceivable reason he would drag himself out of bed at eight in the blinking morning. Except...

"Hiro! You _have_ to get up! Honey Lemon said she'd be here soon, and you aren't even out of bed!" Some things never change. Hiro was glad that at least Tadashi couldn't pick him up anymore; otherwise he'd probably be dangling by his ankles at this point.

"Mhmm, that's good to know." Burying his face deeper into his pillow in an attempt to block out both light and noise to try and get back to sleep, Hiro mentally calculated the absolute latest he could stay in bed and still have time to get ready before she arrived. This pillow trick really worked, he couldn't even hear Tadashi anymore.

Wait.

"Augh!" There was water everywhere. Completely drenched, at least the parts of him that had not been covered by the blanket, Hiro spluttered, shooting upright. Pushing the soaking wet (and _freezing_) covers to the foot of the bed, Hiro glared at Tadashi, who had one of the most innocent (evil) smiles on his face and the handle to a now empty bucket in his hands.

"It's time to get out of bed~." Tadashi looked far too pleased with himself. Thinking fast, Hiro looked down at his drenched sleep shirt and then at Tadashi, opening his arms wide and advancing.

"Of course. But first, give your big brother a good-morning hug." Tadashi had not thought this through. Abandoning the bucket, he turned to make a speedy getaway, but collided with Baymax.

"I heard a sound of: distress. I will now scan for injuries."

"Baymax, move-ah!" Tadashi found that his feet were no longer on the ground and could feel icy cold water soaking through the back of his shirt.

"Scan complete. There are no signs of injury, but your body temperatures are low." Yes, _thank you_, Baymax.

"My own little teddy bear of warmth." Meanwhile, Hiro was quite happy with his plan of attack; Tadashi was warmer than Baymax, though not as squishy.

"Let go! You're freezing!" Tadashi tried to unwrap Hiro's arms from his front, but to no avail. Being child-sized definitely had its downfalls. Hiro just laughed at him.

"And whose fault is that?"

"Yours, bonehead! For not getting up when you were supposed to!"

Hiro finally relented, placing a now partially soaked Tadashi back on the floor. Baymax returned to his charging station, having ascertained that there were no injuries to attend to.

"Oh, don't pout. You wore that yesterday." Hiro turned and started rummaging through his dresser for a decent shirt.

"It's not like I have anything else to wear, genius." Tadashi glared up at him, shivering slightly to regain lost warmth. Hiro paused and dropped his forehead to the top of the dresser. He knew he had forgotten something. It wasn't as if the last few days hadn't been eventful, but this was kind of important. He was the absolute worst brother ever. But he would fix it.

Rummaging through the various drawers on his dresser with a renewed vigor, he searched for anything that was remotely close to Tadashi's new size, or at least something that wouldn't slide off him the minute he put it on. Finding the smallest shirt he owned that he had shrunk in the wash (doing your own laundry is difficult), Hiro offered it to a nearly dry Tadashi, who grudgingly swapped it with the one he was currently wearing. The result was downright comical.

"Where's a camera when you need one?" Hiro laughed as Tadashi tried, and failed, to get the shirt to sit properly on him. By pulling on the neckline, he got it to stay on his shoulders, but otherwise it completely swamped him; the sleeves went down past his elbows, and the hem nearly reached his knees. He reached for the shirt he had been wearing, having set it down when he changed, but Hiro was faster.

"Nope." Hiro lifted it above his head, far out of Tadashi's limited reach. "I can't have you wearing wet clothes, you could get sick." Hiro's grin belied his supposedly good intentions. Just as Tadashi jumped for the shirt, the Hamada brothers heard the doorbell. Honey Lemon had said she was coming over. Honey Lemon was downstairs and Hiro was still in his soaked nightclothes.

"Go get the door!" Hiro turned and grabbed the first shirt he saw in the drawer, struggling into it. Tadashi started down the stairs, hoping his brother wouldn't notice he had put his shirt on backwards in his rush to dress before he headed down to meet them. Tadashi reached up and opened the door to see Honey Lemon looking through her purse, likely for her cell phone.

"Oh, good. I was just about to call—awww! You look adorable!"

Tadashi was momentarily confused until he looked down and remembered he was still wearing the too-big shirt. Looking back to Honey Lemon, a bright flash of light filled his vision and he heard the artificial sound of a camera shutter clicking from her cell phone.

"Ah! I'm blind! I've been blinded!" Furiously scrubbing at his eyes, even though he knew it wouldn't actually help, Tadashi waited for the bright purple spots to fade from his vision. Honey Lemon giggled at his theatrics as they headed up the stairs to the living area, just as Hiro came down the stairs from the brothers' shared room.

"Why is Tadashi screaming about being blind?"

"Oh, I didn't turn the flash off on my phone's camera, and he looked right up into it as I took a picture." Honey Lemon paused, "Is there a reason your shirt's on backwards?"

Tadashi laughed into his hand as Hiro checked the inside collar of his shirt, and sure enough, it was on backwards. Hiro turned and went back up the stairs, leaving a "_thanks_, Tadashi" in his wake.

"So you noticed too? I'm guessing it was before you let me in."

"I had to answer the door." Tadashi's grin perfectly matched the one Hiro constantly showed whenever a prank went correctly. Honey Lemon had to physically restrain herself from reaching for her cell phone to take another picture. "Besides, it's his fault I have to wear _this_ ridiculous shirt."

Honey Lemon listened intently as Tadashi detailed the earlier events of the morning, laughing at the brothers' antics. When Tadashi got to the part about not having another shirt to change into, Honey Lemon got a thoughtful look on her face. Hiro came back downstairs, properly attired this time, just as Honey Lemon came to a conclusion.

"Hiro, while I'm watching Tadashi today, can I take him shopping? I need to buy a new camera anyway, and he just said he needs some new clothes."

Tadashi looked up in alarm. Shopping was okay; shopping was useful; shopping was necessary. Clothes shopping with Honey Lemon meant being barricaded in a dressing room until he changed into whatever she had thrown over the door, coming out, and having his picture taken. Repeatedly. Tadashi looked to his brother, who merely grinned, tossing his wallet to her.

"Sure, why not? Be sure to take lots of pictures for me."

_Traitor._

Honey Lemon caught the wallet, but immediately offered it back. "You know I can cover it, I don't need this."

"He's my brother, take it anyway. I can't force you, but I don't care either way." Tadashi reached out and took the wallet, slipping it into his own pocket, ending the debate.

"Thanks, Otouto."

"But- I- That's- ugh, whatever. Just don't lose it."

* * *

><p>After donning his winter jacket, Tadashi joined Honey Lemon in her rental car and they were off to the local mall. Their first stop was BestBuy, where Honey Lemon picked out a brand new camera while Tadashi roamed the store. Nothing really caught his interest, but he was delaying the inevitable with something he at least enjoyed. He wasn't paying enough attention to his surroundings to stop in time when a person stepped out in front of him from a side aisle.<p>

"Oof," backing off and looking up, Tadashi stammered a quick apology to uninterested golden eyes, just as Honey Lemon spotted them and walked over. "S-sorry."

"Just watch where you're going next time, kid." He turned to continue on his way as Honey Lemon reached them.

"I'm so sorry about that," Honey Lemon took a closer look before laughing, "I don't believe it. I remember you. I ran into you at the airport, how've you been?" The guy looked confused and almost scared for a moment, eyebrows drawing together before he relaxed and laughed as well, pushing some red strands of hair back off of his face.

"Oh, yeah. You're that British girl who nearly knocked me over from behind. How anyone has that much energy after getting off a flight is beyond me." An easy grin settled on his face, though Tadashi thought he detected something false, or at least strained in it.

"I'm not actually British, I've just been away for a while. I'm Honey Lemon, and this little guy is Tadashi."

"Hm, could have had me fooled. I'm Kyouji, Kyouji Shakuzai."

"That's an unfortunate name." Kyouji merely grinned again.

"This is coming from someone named 'Honey Lemon'?"

She didn't bother to correct him concerning her original name, turning to Tadashi, who had started to pull on her sleeve.

"Can we go now?" Earlier he would have delayed for as long as possible before moving on to the clothing, but something about Kyouji just seemed... off.

"Oh, right. We've got a busy day ahead of us." Turning back to Kyouji, she smiled, "It was nice seeing you again. Maybe we'll run into you again sometime."

Kyouji laughed at her choice of words. "Please don't. I don't know how much more abuse I can take from the two of you before I fall apart."

The three parted ways, and Tadashi and Honey Lemon went to the checkout area where Honey Lemon paid for and then assembled her new camera, looping the strap around her neck.

"All right, I'm all set. Now, where should we go first?" Tadashi knew from experience that she wasn't actually asking his opinion, and resigned himself to whatever she would pick out for him.

* * *

><p>"I thought there used to be an Earthbound here." Tadashi looked puzzled, glancing at the nearby shops to try and reorient himself.<p>

"There was. It went out of business a couple of years ago, so there's a GAP here now." Honey Lemon was already rifling through a rack, picking out a shirt or two and holding it out against Tadashi to figure out his size. It didn't take her long to determine it, and then she started stacking shirts on her arm.

"But I liked Earthbound. They had really cool stuff and you could play with the hermit crabs."

"You and Fred just liked to play with the katanas at the back of the store."

"That too."

Tadashi balked at the sheer number of shirts and pants that Honey Lemon already had on her arm. Apparently deciding it was enough for now, or at least as much as she could carry, Honey Lemon herded Tadashi to a dressing room, setting the pile inside and graciously telling Tadashi to pick out only the ones he liked to show her. After the door closed, Tadashi began to sift through the towering pile.

"Nope. Nope. Maybe. _Never_ happening. This one's good." He continued like this until he had hung up all of the rejects and had a much smaller pile of shirts and jeans. After trying on the shirts, discarding a few because of their feel, he had narrowed it down to seven sets of clothing to try on. Just as he pulled the first outfit on, Honey Lemon knocked on the door.

"The pile didn't fall on you, did it?" Tadashi had been quiet after his initial assessments.

"No. Just a second, I'm almost ready." Getting his arm the rest of the way through his sleeve, Tadashi reached for the door handle and stepped out. He had picked out a fairly conservative long sleeve shirt and pair of jeans that he felt comfortable in, though he would have preferred the shirt in green or yellow rather than blue.

"Oh, you look so cute. Okay, hold still and smile." Thank goodness she remembered to turn off the flash in the well-lit room this time.

This process continued for each of the outfits he chose for himself, and Tadashi's cheeks started to hurt from the constant wide smiles Honey Lemon insisted on for the pictures. For the last set, he was already back in his original jeans, having decided that trying on essentially the same pair of pants over and over was tiring, so he didn't bother to close the door as he went to change back into the shirt Hiro had given him that morning. Glancing in the mirror, Tadashi caught a glimpse of a worried and protective look come over Honey Lemon's face.

"Tadashi... What happened to your back?"

"What are you talking about?" Tadashi turned so he could see his own back in the mirror, surprised at what he found. "I have no idea. It doesn't hurt."

There, just inside his shoulder blades, were two parallel vertical lines of what looked like charred skin. However, when he reached back to poke at them, he could feel the touch, whereas if it had been burnt, he would have been unable to. Shrugging, he pulled on his shirt and then his jacket.

"I promise it doesn't hurt, and I don't remember anything that could have caused it."

Honey Lemon didn't look convinced, but didn't push it, opting instead to gather up the clothes Tadashi had picked out and go with him to the register. She would tell Hiro later, if he didn't already know. On the way to the register, she spotted a bumblebee striped hoodie and added it to the pile, deciding Tadashi would look adorable if she could get him to wear it.

After checking out, Tadashi breathed a sigh of relief that was short-lived as Honey Lemon announced:

"Okay, on to the next store!"

* * *

><p>Hiro was wiping down a table after the lunch crowd when he heard his phone go off. Checking his messages, he found a large number of pictures that Honey Lemon had taken throughout the day, from a particular outfit Tadashi had tried on that she had found absolutely perfect, to images from the food court they had had lunch at. Hiro smiled to himself as he scrolled through them, then responded to the message at the bottom that had been written by Tadashi, asking for their cell phone carrier's information so he could get his own phone. Hiro decided it would be a good idea for him to have one in case he ever needed to get a hold of him or his friends, though he knew Tadashi would probably completely remake any phone he bought in order to meet his preferences.<p>

Glancing around the shop, Hiro determined that he would have some time before the next customers needed his attention. He settled down in a chair to answer emails from prospective companies interested in his prosthetic tech while waiting for Tadashi and Honey Lemon to come back.


	6. Mishaps

Thank goodness they were almost done. Tadashi didn't think he had had this many outfits at any previous point in his entire existence. He had tried to limit it by being much pickier than he actually was, but if Honey Lemon set her sights on a particular store, there was no leaving until he picked something. Honey Lemon took it as a personal challenge if he claimed to not like anything, but thankfully didn't try to insist on getting him something he turned down. However, he didn't remember agreeing to a particular bumblebee hoodie, but he couldn't be too sure; the outfits and stores were beginning to blend together in his mind. He had severely underestimated the number of shops offering clothing in this place.

He had to wonder if Honey Lemon had purchased some sort of super memory card for her camera, considering how many pictures she had taken. It made sense to take pictures of the outfits, but he would catch her taking some as he went through clothes on a rack or when some well-meaning lady came up and asked if he needed help reaching something. If he really wanted something, he would just ask Honey Lemon, since jumping for things had resulted in an unstable clothing rack falling on him. He hadn't been injured, but it had made a huge mess that was embarrassing enough without Honey Lemon (after worriedly making sure he was okay) laughing and snapping photos. He himself had started laughing when the shock had worn off; Tadashi could just imagine how ridiculous he looked.

Thankfully, that fiasco hadn't ended with them being booted out of the store. According to Honey Lemon, Tadashi had used his utter adorableness to get out of trouble, but Tadashi didn't know what she was talking about. All he did was apologize and offer to help put the clothes back when the semi-angry cashier came to fix the mess. He hadn't done anything in particular to cause the anger to flee her expression, and he certainly hadn't been expecting the pat on the head nor the insistence that he not worry about it.

That had been a better experience than one at another store across the way where the teenager at the cash register had complimented Honey on her 'cute son'. Honey Lemon had laughed it off and corrected the cashier, but Tadashi had been completely thrown for a loop. After leaving, since he didn't want to embarrass the cashier more, he had ranted to a highly amused Honey Lemon.

"We don't even _look_ alike!"

"Adoption is pretty popular now-a-days."

"But _still_!"

* * *

><p>When Tadashi thought he would be unable to walk any further, and was seriously considering just sitting down and waiting for Honey Lemon to notice that he was no longer trailing behind her, she had announced that they were stopping for lunch. Though he wasn't a huge fan of traditional fast food, <em>"You don't even know what's in most of that stuff,"<em> he wouldn't have turned down anything the food court had to offer at that point.

Honey Lemon had struggled to deposit all of the bags she had been carrying, which led to yet another offer by Tadashi to carry a couple for her. Once again the offer was turned down, since Honey Lemon thought it went against some moral code to make a five year old carry his own clothes when shopping. Tadashi's insistence that it didn't matter if said boy offered went ignored as their order was announced as ready, and Honey Lemon went to pick it up.

After they finished eating and Tadashi had gotten the phone information from Hiro, Honey Lemon agreed that they were probably done clothes shopping for the day. They made a quick stop to get Tadashi's new phone, which Tadashi happily paid for with the contents of Hiro's wallet, and were on their way out when they noticed a familiar shock of black and purple hair in the hardware section of a department store.

"Hey, Gogo. Whatcha looking at?" Gogo pulled a set of different sized wrenches off of the wall before turning to the pair, looking highly amused at the sight of an overburdened Honey Lemon and a small Tadashi who was still in the far too large shirt.

"I'm just getting some new wrenches. I seem to have misplaced a few."

"You really shouldn't throw them when they don't work the way you want them to." Tadashi grinned, remembering the issues that reaction had caused in the past. He wondered if the students who had had to completely recalibrate their machine had forgiven her yet.

"Meh, they're cheap. Plus, Wasabi and I decided to do some early gift shopping so we won't have to deal with the crazies come holiday season." Gogo popped her gum and pulled another set off of the wall, comparing the two. "He's over there in the gardening section getting some mulch. Do you think he realizes he's just buying bags of dirt?"

"This isn't _just_ dirt," Wasabi had picked that moment to wander over, brushing particles off of his sweater with one hand while the other held the basket containing a couple bags of mulch. "There are nutrients in this that are essential to the proper growth of plants without relying on weed killers or pesticides."

Gogo, having decided between the two wrench sets, turned and headed towards the checkout area. "Okay, now that Wasabi's got his special dirt, where were you guys headed next?"

"It's not-" Wasabi was summarily ignored.

"Honestly, I need to drop off these bags in the car if we are planning on doing anything more."

"If you would just let me carry some-"

"So, if he could hang with you for a bit, I'll be right back. Wasabi, I'll take your stuff too."

Gogo had barely given an affirmative answer before a camera was shoved in her hands and Honey Lemon disappeared to deposit the clothes and mulch in their vehicle.

"Well, that happened." Gogo slipped her new wrenches and the camera into her backpack before grabbing Tadashi's hand and practically dragging him back to the main portion of the mall. "There's a toy store around here somewhere, and don't even try to say you don't want to go."

Tadashi turned slightly worried eyes to Wasabi, who so very helpfully shrugged and trailed along behind them as Gogo led them to what had to be the biggest emporium of toys Tadashi had ever seen.

"I definitely do _not_ remember this being here."

* * *

><p>Honey Lemon arrived back after having texted Gogo for their whereabouts to find the group raiding the Lego section of the store, some more gleefully than others. Tadashi was trying to balance another 5000-piece spaceship set in the basket, and Gogo was already calling him over to look at another one. Wasabi had stopped commenting on the choking hazard when Tadashi reminded him of the sheer number of robots and parts Hiro left lying around on a regular basis and assured him that he had felt no urge to attempt to consume them. Honey Lemon wished she had kept her camera on hand, and snapped a picture with her phone instead.<p>

"I see you guys have been keeping busy." Honey Lemon then received her camera from Gogo, who seemed to think Tadashi had a sufficient amount of Legos, and was moving on to the wheels section.

"Okay, what size shoes do you wear? We need to get you some roller blades." Gogo paused for a second, "And maybe a bike. Though I'd honestly rather make you one myself." Tadashi looked mildly terrified at the prospect of using a Gogo made bike, but another issue was more prevalent in his mind as he offered one of his shoes to Gogo, having failed to locate a size on them.

"I- I don't think I know how."

"Nonsense, you never forget how to ride a bike."

"Well, maybe. But that wasn't what I was talking about. I don't know how to rollerblade."

"Not a big deal, I'll teach you. Heck, Wasabi's not that great at it, and he doesn't have your excuse." Wasabi merely rolled his eyes, muttering about liking to have his feet firmly on the ground. Either way, it made Tadashi feel better, which was her intention all along. Finally picking out some red and white inlines, since standard skates were too slow according to Gogo, they decided to call it a day. They were on their way to the register when Honey Lemon made a reappearance (when had she-) and was holding a medium sized white plush bear.

"Here, hold this!" Passing it over to Tadashi, she took a quick picture of him holding it. "I saw it, and I had to grab it for you."

Tadashi didn't mind, it was the perfect size to wrap his arms around, and though it wasn't as nice as Baymax, he could carry it around wherever he liked. No one would look too strangely at a five year old with a stuffed animal, and it was a nice physical comfort he wasn't used to having around. Burying his face in the stuffed animal, he muttered a thank you to Honey Lemon, and they continued to the register. Passing Hiro's wallet to Wasabi to pay, Tadashi quickly explained how he had come in possession of it, causing Gogo and Wasabi to laugh briefly.

As they were walking out towards the parking lot, Gogo made an exclamation of exasperation.

"Are you serious? It's not even a week before Thanksgiving and they already have blatantly Christmas stuff up. I mean, I like Christmas, but seriously people?" Gogo poked the inflatable Santa as they passed by. "This is ridiculous."

"Wal-Mart had Christmas stuff the day after Halloween," Honey Lemon reminded her, "They're just trying to increase sales."

"Yet, I bet if I went in there and tried to wish them a Merry Christmas, they'd be offended." Gogo slowed her steps, as if seriously considering trying just that.

"You should see the looks I get when I offer someone a 'Joyous Kwanzaa'." Wasabi grinned, obviously remembering a specific instance. "I don't see why people get defensive when you are just wishing them well. If they don't celebrate your particular holiday, they can just respond with the holiday they do celebrate." Wasabi had clearly considered this topic before, and Tadashi had to wonder how many times.

"I'm just glad you observe Christmas gift-giving too, so I can get a present out of you," Gogo teased, having caught back up to the group, popping gum that Tadashi didn't recall her having a couple of moments ago.

"Is that all our friendship is worth to you?" Wasabi's exaggerated look of mock offense made Tadashi start laughing, and Honey Lemon joined him soon after. Gogo managed to keep a straight face long enough to respond.

"Ah!" Gogo smacked her hand to her own forehead, "I wasn't supposed to tell you until _after_ the holidays. Just forget everything I said."

"Nope, it's too late. Our friendship is beyond repair." Wasabi reached out and pulled Tadashi close, acting as if he was going to walk off with him. "Looks like it's just you and me, Tadashi. Women just can't be trusted with our fragile emotions."

Tadashi patted his arm in a sympathetic manner. "There, there. I'm sure it will be all right." The comforting image was incomplete, however, since Tadashi had been unable to reign in his laughter.

"Oh, woman up!"

* * *

><p>Having taken their separate vehicles back to the café, the group encountered a slightly harried looking Hiro attempting to stop a particular coffee machine from spraying everywhere while simultaneously trying to contain the mess it was making as he tried to fix it. Thankfully, the café was empty at the moment.<p>

"Just turn off, you piece of— Oh, hey guys."

Wasabi quickly made his way over after placing the bags he was carrying in the doorway, and an extra pair of hands allowed the problem to be sorted out much quicker.

"Thanks. I swear that machine is possessed or something." Hiro finally took notice of the numerous shopping bags. "So, what'd you end up getting?"

Honey Lemon detailed most of the outfits she and Tadashi had picked out, showing pictures to Hiro while Gogo and Wasabi helped carry the bags up the stairs to the living area. They stacked the Lego boxes in a corner, and helped Tadashi put away his clothes. Rather, Gogo would throw some in a drawer and Wasabi would come behind her and fold them, muttering to himself about wrinkles while Tadashi sat on the bed holding his new bear. They clearly did not want or need his help at the moment, especially since his area was so cramped anyway.

Once everything was put away, Gogo grabbed the rollerblades and they all headed back downstairs. Hiro was dealing with the afternoon crowd by the time they arrived. Honey Lemon needed to leave in order to take care of the supplies that had arrived from England for her lab, and Wasabi had to hurry if he was going to make it to his afternoon class. Gogo waited for a lull in the activity, before addressing Hiro behind the counter.

"Hey, I'm gonna take Tadashi to go roller skating."

Hiro was busy putting together someone's order, but paused to look up at her, wondering about the intelligence of that suggestion. "Take Baymax with you," the two were already halfway out the door, Baymax's case in hand. "And for goodness sake take a helmet!" Gogo simply saluted and shut the door behind them.

"This couldn't end badly at all."

* * *

><p>"Okay, so just concentrate on keeping your feet straight and underneath you."<p>

"I don't think this is such a good idea. Shouldn't we start somewhere, I don't know, flatter?" After tugging on his skates, lacing them up tightly, and then making sure his helmet was on properly, Tadashi was sitting outside the café, looking at the concrete incline that led to the end of the street. It flattened out in plenty of time to stop before reaching the street, but Gogo was insisting they start at the top in order to give him a chance to figure out his balance without having to propel himself as well.

"You know why not. Now woman up, and don't let go until I tell you." Tadashi had taken hold of a light post just outside, glancing at the Baymax station and wondering if it would be better to activate him immediately or to place him at the bottom of the hill where he would be closer to the inevitable injury. If he made it that far.

Gogo positioned herself at the end of the hill, ready to catch him, just to make sure he didn't accidentally go flying into the street.

"Okay, you can let go now."

"Um, maybe we can try again later?"  
>"Tadashi." Gogo had one hand on her hip, and was making it very clear that she was not moving until he let go. Tadashi took a steadying breath, and angled his feet properly, or at least what he hoped was properly. He let go, and the incline was enough to get him moving. And then he started to pick up speed.<p>

"This is a really bad idea!"

He had almost made it to Gogo when his right foot caught an indent in the pavement, coming out from underneath him. Gogo leapt forward and caught him, but not before he gashed open the knee that had collapsed.

"Ow!" Tadashi curled up in a seated position as he heard Baymax activate, his head bowed over his knee. He'd been so close! This was getting aggravating; it seemed that no matter what he tried, there was something else that he couldn't do anymore. One part of his mind knew he would get it eventually, but the prevalent part was hurting and five years old and just didn't want to be in pain anymore. He started to tear up as Gogo bent down to examine his knee.

"Ugh, Hiro's going to kill me." Gogo looked into Tadashi's face, doing a double take when she saw that they were filled with tears, and were suddenly bright orange. "Woah, hey. Um, don't cry."

He squeezed his eyes shut, but it was too late. Tears had already spilled over, travelling down the bridge of his nose and onto his wounded knee.

"I heard a sound of: distress. I will now scan for injuries." Baymax looked down at Tadashi. "Scan complete. You are uninjured, but you remain distressed. Do not panic, and take deep breaths."

"Baymax, I think you need to get your scanner checked. He's obviously injured, don't you see the blood?" Gogo pointed to the knee, but took a second look herself, before reaching down to wipe away the blood.

"Hey!" Tadashi felt the pressure, but not the pain he was expecting. He opened his eyes to see closed and smooth skin through the tear in his jeans. "But, what?"

"My scanners are fully functional. Tadashi is uninjured."

*A.N.: So Tadashi's powers are beginning to show :)*


	7. Hiro Plays Deducing

**A.N.: It has come to my attention that I neglected to put the definition of Jadoku's name in the chapter where Honey Lemon commented on it. I meant to add it at the end, but forgot. Anyway:

Kyouji= Misfortune (Also: calamity, instruction, securing rights and profits, spoiled child, teaching)

Shakuzai= Debt (Also: liability, loan)**

_-Back inside the Lucky Cat Café-_

After Gogo disappeared with his brother out the door, Hiro was soon busy again. The couple in the corner had decided they _were_ going to have a late lunch instead of just a snack, and the man wanted the coffee that could only be made by the machine Hiro and Wasabi had just 'fixed'. Not only was it the loudest and most obnoxious machine to work with, but it also had a tendency to go completely haywire at any given moment.

Hiro had taken it apart and reassembled it multiple times, but simply could not figure out what was wrong with it. He would have gotten rid of it, but it was one of Aunt Cass's machines, and he wanted everything to be as similar as possible when she woke up and got back to work. He didn't recall her ever having issues running it.

Sending a silent command to the machine- _work like you're supposed to, just __**once**__, gosh darn it_- as if it would do any good, Hiro turned it on and set it for the man's order. The loud grinding noise of it starting up signaled that it was going to behave, for now anyway. While the coffee was being prepared, Hiro had time to let his mind wander. Something Honey Lemon had told him while the other three were upstairs had him wondering and slightly worrying.

Why hadn't he noticed the marks? Sure, there hadn't been a time recently when he had seen Tadashi's back, but he felt like he should have somehow known, through brother instincts, or something. Why hadn't Baymax picked up on them when he had scanned him earlier? Or maybe he had, and hadn't told him. If so, _why _hadn't he notified him? Something like this had to be important.

Of course, it had taken some prompting to find out about Tadashi's other changes. As if having him back alive wasn't enough, though he was much younger, Tadashi had come back with hollow bones and a higher body temperature. Now these markings were revealed, and Hiro had to wonder what else he didn't know about his returned brother. He'd have to look into it more when he had a spare moment.

The quieting of the coffeemaker and a small ding brought him out of his musings. Hiro took the order to its appropriate table, and returned to the counter. He glanced at the door just in time to see Gogo walk through it with Tadashi trailing behind her as if trying to hide himself from Hiro's view. This didn't bode well.

"You guys were gone for like, five minutes."

"Yeah, um, Hiro?" Gogo looked uncertain, and Hiro felt fear tighten his chest. Gogo _never_ looked uncertain. "I think you might want to see this." She gestured to the back room, intending to lead them there to avoid making a scene. Hiro noticed Gogo's hand.

"I-is that blood?"

Gogo realized her mistake and went into crisis aversion mode before Hiro's worry became fully-fledged panic.

"We're both fine, Hiro." She took a firm grasp of his upper arm with her clean hand and led him to the back room, setting him down on a supplies crate. "Neither of us is injured, you can even ask Baymax," as she said this, the said robot caught up to the group, "or see for yourself."

Gogo reached behind her and used a hand to the back of Tadashi's head to guide him into Hiro's view for inspection. A quick lookover and Hiro reached towards the bloodied hole over Tadashi's knee, thinking to himself that Gogo's definition of fine and his definition of fine must be _very_ different things. However, he couldn't seem to find the injury or even, apart from the blood itself, any redness to indicate a scrape.

"Baymax, scan him."

"He already has." Tadashi had finally spoken up, getting over his own initial shock, setting unlaced skates on the ground next to him and pulling up his pants leg until it was over his knee. "There's no injury. At least, not anymore..."

"Not _anymore_?" Hiro was desperately trying to process this information, but he felt like he was missing some key piece that would make it understandable. "What happened? I want every last detail."

"Well," Tadashi shifted slightly, reaching for the brim of a hat he no longer wore, trying to think of some way to phrase what happened that wouldn't throw Gogo under the metaphorical bus. "I put on my skates and helmet, and Gogo went to the end of the hill so I wouldn't go flying into the street," he generously left out the instances of his protests, "I was almost to her, when I lost my balance and my leg came out from underneath me, scraping on the sidewalk. She caught me, so I wasn't otherwise hurt. I sat down, and by the time Baymax got to us, he scanned me and I was uninjured."

Gogo rolled her eyes. "That wasn't everything that happened, and you know it."

Tadashi was confused for a moment. Did she _want_ him to tell Hiro that he hadn't wanted to go down the hill? Then he realized what she was referring to.

"Um, I also cried." Hiro wanted details, so he supposed he would give him details. "My tears fell on my knee. After that, Baymax scanned me, and Gogo wiped at the blood, so that's why it's on her hand." He paused for at moment, as if trying to think of anything else. "I think that's everything." He looked to Gogo, who nodded, satisfied with the story, though she had something to add.

"Also, though I doubt he could see it himself, Tadashi's eyes were bright orange right before he started crying. I'm not talking about a trick of the light or glare from the sun orange either. This was some colored contacts unnatural _orange._"

Hiro looked like he was considering something, fiddling with the edge of his sleeve like he did when he was lost in thought. He knew what she was talking about, and he could picture it clearly. He had seen it before, back in the hospital room. Right when Tadashi had been close to tears.

"Baymax, scan him again, specifically the skin of the previously injured knee. Bring up everything you find on the screen, whether you deem it important or not."

"Scan complete. Displaying results now." A list of components appeared on Baymax's stomach. The alphabetically organized compounds were grouped and named for better understanding. Hiro skimmed through the list, past asphalt, blood, foreign skin cells attributed to Gogo, and normal components of skin, to a listed compound with no name. Hiro pointed to it.

"So, what about this one?"

"This substance is not in my database. However, it contains cell information similar in many aspects to that found in a non-specific embryotic stem cell, indicating regenerative properties."

Bingo. Hiro had one more thing he wanted to check before he made his conclusion.

"Baymax, scan the substance on Gogo's hand and check for a matching compound to the unidentified one."

"Scan complete. There is a match." Baymax pulled up a similar list next to the previous one, highlighting the compound in both. Hiro was absolutely certain now.

"Okay. So whatever it was wiped off easily and was introduced after the injury, but before Gogo made contact. Also, looking at what was found on Tadashi and Gogo's skin, there is a distinct lack of lacritin, a main component of tears –and saliva, but that's not important. So this mystery regenerative substance must have been what he cried, and what healed him." Hiro sat back, looking very pleased with himself. Gogo didn't look impressed.

"So his tears healed his wound. I could have guessed that."

"But could you have proved it?"

Tadashi tuned them out, retreating into his own thoughts. So... his tears, except they weren't tears, at least not normal tears, healed him. Could he do it again? Except, he didn't feel like crying. In fact, he was surprised he had cried earlier. Did it work on just him? Could he use it on other people? Could he even control it? He hadn't really been aiming for his knee, it just sort of happened. Could he extract it? Or would the effects wear off?

"Earth to Tadashi, come in Tadashi." Hiro waved a hand in front of Tadashi's face, startling him and effectively derailing his train of thought.

"Hm? What were you saying?"

Hiro chuckled; when Tadashi was preoccupied, he was completely oblivious to his surroundings, which had made for some interesting pranks in the past. He wouldn't notice what was going on until it was far too late.

"Gogo and I were wondering what you wanted to do about this discovery. I mean, it's your tears or whatever." Hiro shrugged.

"Oh. I was wondering if I could do it again, or force it." Tadashi wondered what was necessary to activate it. "Also, I want to find out if it works on other people."

"I figured you would say something like that. Hey, Gogo. Do you think-" Hiro was cut off when Gogo's phone went off. Her message alert was something of a mix between an air raid siren and dubstep, and could not be missed or ignored.

Digging it out of her pocket and checking the incoming message, she let out a string of curses that had no place around a five year old. Of course, Tadashi had already heard them all before, but was amused at the creativity of their arrangement in that instance.

"Of course, they can't handle a single thing going wrong." Shoving her phone back into her pocket, she headed for the door. "Their timing, I swear. You two better tell me anything you find out, I gotta go."

"Wait, don't you want your-" but she was already gone, "helmet?" Tadashi lowered the arm he had raised to gather up the helmet that had been set next to his skates.

"She'll be fine." Hiro didn't seem concerned enough to Tadashi, but he supposed there wasn't really anything he could do now. There was no way he could catch up to her, especially since he didn't know where she was going.

* * *

><p>Baymax and Tadashi headed upstairs while Hiro went back into the main of the café and collected the bill from the couple and the red headed guy sitting near the window. When they had all filed out, he changed the sign on the door to 'closed' and locked up, before joining Tadashi upstairs.<p>

"I guess it's a good thing you went shopping today." Hiro gestured at Tadashi's torn jeans, before starting his computer and pulling up a search engine.

"If I hadn't been shopping, I wouldn't have the roller skates in the first place." Tadashi was sitting on his own bed, with his shoes off and a large white teddy bear clutched in his arms. Hiro remembered Honey Lemon having mentioned him getting it, but he had forgotten until then.

"Don't get blood on the sheets." Hiro turned back to the screen, wondering what he would even type to find what he was looking for.

"It comes out with dish soap."

"Only if you want to scrub it. Just change into some new jeans."

Hearing movement and guessing that Tadashi was taking his suggestion, Hiro just decided to type in what he knew and see what came up. The words 'hollow bones high temperature healing tears' came up with a whole lot of medical articles, but none of them applied to Tadashi. There weren't any results when he paired the words like they were supposed to be, but he wasn't really surprised. Trying something else, he added 'fire' to his search query, leaving out 'high temperature', since that only seemed to draw up medical pages on fevers.

The results were varied, but a single word caught his eye, reminding him of the long string of theories Fred had come up with the first night he had reintroduced Tadashi to the group. He had been particularly adamant about this one, so maybe...

Hiro figured it couldn't hurt, and cleared his search bar, typing in the word 'Phoenix'. On the results page, he followed the link for Phoenix (Mythology). Reading the first line he started laughing. _No. Freaking. __**Way**_.

Tadashi had finished dressing and looked over when he heard slightly hysterical laughter coming from Hiro, becoming slightly worried as he padded over to where Hiro was seated.

"Hiro? What are you laughing at?" Tadashi looked up at the screen, trying to determine what could have made Hiro- "Oh." _Oh._

"'Obtaining new life by rising from the ashes of its former self, the phoenix is typically depicted as a fiery bird. A remarkable aspect, apart from its natural ability to control its own fire, is the regenerative property of its tears, which can heal wounds and combat the deadliest of venoms.' Oh my _gosh_. Fred's going to have a field day." Hiro reached for his phone, unlocked the screen and began typing away.

Tadashi had to wonder what exactly he had just gotten himself into.


	8. Jadoku

As necessary as it was, picking new marks made Kyouji jittery with nerves, causing his hands to shake. He shoved his hands into his pockets to conceal them as he continued to roam the aisles of the electronics store, as good a place as any to pick out the well-to-do. His reaction didn't make much sense, as there was no real reason to be nervous until he actually attempted a theft; in the time before, he was safe. Well, as safe as you could be when you hadn't brought in anything decent in a while.

His last choice had been a total bust, but at least he hadn't been caught, and he'd even been paid, though it wasn't much. He still wasn't completely certain what had caused the change of heart, but whatever kept him employed and out of deep water was fine by him.

He scoffed quietly to himself. _If you could call it employment_.

Stepping out of an aisle, Kyouji felt someone small collide with him. Seriously, what was it with people running into him lately? Glancing down, he saw a kid, who had on a shirt that likely wouldn't fit him for years, look up at him through dark hair and mutter an apology.

"Just watch where you're going next time, kid." He didn't have time to deal with this, and if the brat had been trying to pickpocket him, he was out of luck. He didn't have anything on him at the moment worth taking.

He was about to walk away when a very familiar blond approached the two of them, apologizing for the younger one's behavior. Kyouji didn't hear a word of it, however, as he started mentally panicking. _This_. _This is why you don't steal from locals._ He didn't even have any of the serum on him at the moment, not that he could have silenced both her and the kid before an alarm was raised.

But. She was laughing, even smiling.

"—ran into you at the airport, how've you been?"

Oh. She didn't know. Kyouji relaxed, laughing a bit in relief, though he supposed it could pass as that of recognition. Taking one of his hands out of his pockets, he pushed his bangs back off of his forehead in habit as he considered how to respond.

"Oh, yeah. You're that British girl"—not really, unfortunately—" who nearly knocked me over from behind. How anyone has that much energy after getting off a flight is beyond me."

Seriously, what was she, the energizer bunny? The thought brought a grin to his face, but keeping it there took work. His neutral face wasn't exactly friendly, and he needed to keep her from getting suspicious until he got away. Kyouji didn't like the way the kid was looking at him.

"I'm not actually British," _gee, that would have been nice to know_, "I've just been away for a while. I'm Honey Lemon, and this little guy is Tadashi."

Great, now they were doing introductions, though giving them his official name wouldn't hurt. The only places he used it anymore were those that required the fake driver license in his pocket.

"Hm, could have had me fooled."—she had—"I'm Kyouji, Kyouji Shakuzai."

"That's an unfortunate name." _Wonderful_, she actually knew Japanese. No one had actually commented on his name in years. Realizing he had let his smile slip, he grinned again.

"This is coming from someone named 'Honey Lemon'?"

Honestly, who names their kid that? At least his dad had had a reason. He noticed the kid -_Tadashi, wasn't it?_- as he started to pull on Honey Lemon's sleeve, asking to leave. Thank _goodness_. He realized he was being addressed again.

"It was nice seeing you again." –Not really– "Maybe we'll run into you again sometime." At this statement, Kyouji outright laughed.

"Please don't. I don't know how much more abuse I can take from the two of you before I fall apart." Honestly, what were they going to do next, hit him with their car?

They walked off to the front of the store, and though in all likelihood they weren't coming back, Kyouji just felt like he needed to get out of there. He would find somewhere else to scope out. He waited until they were gone before leaving as well.

* * *

><p>Having exited the mall, Kyouji felt his cheap-worthless-good-for-nothing cellphone buzz to alert him of a new message. Only two or three people had his number, and only one person ever texted him for anything.<p>

Opening up the messages, he saw that, sure enough, there was a location from a blocked number. It was for one of the run-down buildings just off the port that he frequented often, and was maybe a ten-minute walk from where he was. Apparently, today hadn't been stressful enough.

Shoving his phone back in his pocket, he allowed his mind to wander as he travelled the familiar streets and alleyways. No one would give him any trouble he couldn't end quite quickly, even without the serum itself. He really didn't want to know why Yama was asking for him.

Many newbies would look at Yama and scoff, underestimating him, but his size wasn't as much a weapon as his ability to make people disappear. Yama on his own would probably amount to nothing more than an oversized playground bully, but his older brother was much higher up in the chain of command. This afforded Yama a lot more power than he could ever have attained on his own.

It didn't, however, make him invincible. A few years back, Yama had been picked up by the police, along with almost everyone else at the bot fight, after he had had his bot obliterated by some kid. Honestly, the kid would have ended up on respirators if he hadn't been conveniently rescued by some guy on a bike. Kyouji had been small enough and smart enough to not try to run from the police and instead hid until they left, avoiding capture.

It would have taken little effort to bail out Yama, even with the other charges against him, but his brother had decided to let Yama remain in jail for two years, forbidding anyone to help him out in order to punish him for his stupidity and bot-fighting habit. (As if they would. No one was disappointed to have him off the streets.)

Nearly everyone who had the money bet on the fights, but it was ridiculously expensive and risky to participate. Thousands of dollars could go into the perfect bot, only for it to be destroyed in seconds. This was the main reason its popularity had gone down in the past years; no one was willing to invest anymore.

Kyouji reached for the door handle to the dilapidated house, wondering if they should just hang a sign that read, 'Nothing suspicious going on here. Move along.'

He stepped over the threshold and was greeted by one of the more agreeable people of the bunch, the only other person to have his number.

"Hey, Jadoku, I got you some of those syringes you were asking for." A wide grin settled on the brunette's face as he reached down into his bag and passed Kyouji a bag with an assortment of small, empty syringes.

"They're sterile, right?" Kyouji accepted the bag, having paid in advance for them to be sought out. The other man just laughed.

"'Course they're sterile, boiled them myself. Wouldn't want you getting sick."

He wouldn't, though. His blood would destroy any virus or contaminant that entered his body, but it was the thought that counted, he supposed. He just didn't want to accidentally give one of his victims something that would ruin their life.

Giving a brief thanks, he made his way to the back of the building to wait for whatever Yama had to tell him. Grabbing a water bottle, he settled down into one of the worn down chairs and pulled one of the syringes out of the bag. He really didn't feel like not having a safety net at this point.

Unscrewing the cap, he dipped the needle into the water and pulled until the syringe was almost full. He then set the bottle besides the chair and rolled up his sleeve. He still didn't like the idea of a needle under his skin, so he poked the skin of his forearm with the needle and then pinched until a bubble of blood rested on top; He didn't need much.

Lining up the needle, he carefully pulled until the blood had been sucked up into the main of the syringe. He got another needle to gather the excess blood until it clotted, before dipping it too into the water bottle to fill the rest of the way.

He didn't really care about cross-contamination. His blood was venomous, not poisonous, and you could drink it by the mouthful if you were so inclined.

Mildly disgusted by that train of thought, Kyouji capped the first syringe and slipped it into his pocket, keeping the other to fiddle with until Yama, who apparently didn't care about keeping people waiting, decided to show.

Finally hearing the heavy footsteps that couldn't belong to anyone else, Kyouji capped and placed the other syringe in his pocket. As nice as it was to have, the serum would be best left unused in this situation, and he couldn't trust himself when he was a jumpy as he was currently.

Yama rounded the corner before plopping himself unceremoniously into an adjacent armchair. He had a couple of what looked to be photos in his meaty hands and looked quite pleased with himself.

"I have decided that I am going to graciously allow you to make up for your previous mistake, Jadoku." It really wasn't _that_ big of a mix-up, it was more that next to nothing had come of it.

Yama continued, "You may not be aware of it, but a few years ago, I was cheated out of quite a bit of money, along with my prized fighter bot, and was stuck in jail for the entirety of two years. Two years in prison, and I had practically _wasted_ away."

Kyouji had to bite his lip to keep from laughing at that. If this was wasted away, how much had he underestimated his size before? Thankfully, Yama didn't notice, too busy lamenting lost time, or he'd be in for some serious pain.

"—and who do I see everywhere in the papers upon my release? The little brat that had stolen what was rightfully mine. _Hiro Hamada_."

Kyouji didn't know where this was going, and was uncertain if he actually wanted to.

"Naturally, there was nothing I could do at the time, having to recover from my time in jail and most of my most trusted followers having vanished into thin air—" _Lucky them_ "-but fate has given me another chance."

At this, he handed the photos to Kyouji, who accepted them warily, before stilling when he saw the subject of the top one. It was a photo of the kid who had run into him at the store, looking up at someone Kyouji thought he vaguely recognized. There was a glare on the photo, as if it had been taken through a screen, and Kyouji had to wonder how these had been obtained.

The second photo looked as if it had been cropped, since it was focused on an advertisement on the counter that announced the business hours of somewhere called the _Lucky Cat Café_. He thought he might have remembered passing by it at some point, but café's weren't exactly his number one hangout location. Yama was looking at him expectantly.

"So, what's the job, exactly?" He didn't see anything that he would specialize in, since it was unlikely that a café had anything more than the contents of a cash register. Yama rolled his eyes, clearly exasperated.

"Must I explain _everything_?"

_No, the bare minimum would suffice, thanks_.

Yama jabbed a finger at the first picture, pointing at the older guy. "This is Hiro." He spoke as one would to a kindergartener. He then moved his finger to the kid, Tadashi, Kyouji remembered. "And this is your target."

Reaching out and taking the second picture, he pointed to the café's name, "And_ this_ is where you will find them."

Kyouji had never wanted to punch someone as badly as he did at the moment, but he had other priorities. Like breathing.

"I don't steal _people. _Why would you want the kid, anyway?" That was pushing it a little, but he'd never been asked to do something like this before, and he didn't like the idea of dragging a kid into this. "For all you know, he barely knows him."

"Just leave the details to your superiors." Yama looked convinced that things were going to go his way. Kyouji was getting sick of this.

"What makes you think I'll do it?"

Nope, nope, he should not have said anything. Yama had his arm in a bone-crushing grip, causing green scales to appear in an attempt to protect the area.

"And what else are you going to do? Bleed on me?"

Kyouji was furious, but his self-preservation kept him quiet. _He could do _so_ much worse_. Yama released his arm, believing he'd made his point.

"We aren't going to hurt him, just remind 'Zero' that he owes me some money. With interest."

* * *

><p>Kyouji lingered around the street intersection until he noticed a couple enter the café, following close behind. He didn't want to be the only one in the shop, which could possibly prompt small talk, something he avoided on a normal basis if he could.<p>

Upon entering, he noticed Honey Lemon at the counter speaking animatedly with someone who could only be Hiro, the one from the picture. In person, he could see how he could have been the small kid from the bot fight, just grown up. If possible, Kyouji would rather not interact with Honey again that day. How did the phrase go? Once is coincidence, twice is creepy... something like that.

Thankfully, she checked her phone and was out the door with a whirlwind of promises to call Hiro, mentioning something about supplies, and didn't take any notice of her surroundings. That solved one possible problem.

Kyouji wasn't stupid or arrogant enough to think he could get hold of the kid on the first visit to where he stayed, so this visit was simply to get the layout of the place. He didn't want to raise suspicions right away, but he needed to know the location and the possible individuals that would be involved in what he was going to attempt.

He remembered the twenty he still had from being paid that he had later put in his shirt pocket. It was one of the safer, yet easily accessible locations to store money that prevented him from looking paranoid by using his shoe.

Approaching the counter he took a quick look over the menu, remembering that he hadn't had lunch yet, he ordered a relatively cheap sandwich and water. No sense in wasting money on some fruity drink he didn't need.

Accepting his number, Kyouji picked a table near the exit, right next to a window. Might as well have some options should something highly unlikely happen. From where he was, he had a full view of the street, right down to the end where the incline tapered off before it reached the intersection he had been at. He had to remember that, since anyone sitting where he was could have seen him standing aimlessly.

His attention was drawn back to the counter as the kid, Tadashi, made an appearance, accompanied by a short woman with short black (and was that purple?) hair and a tall, built guy with well cared for dreads. This guy would have terrified Kyouji if it weren't for the sweater he was wearing, way he carried himself, and the fact that he looked like he was about to have a panic attack before bolting out the door, shouting about being late. Kyouji was more wary of the woman holding some skates that were clearly too small for her.

The woman passed the skates to Tadashi and started to talk to Hiro, while Tadashi stood there looking like he was about to be sentenced to some form of punishment. Kyouji was glad he was close enough to hear their conversation.

"Hey, I'm gonna take Tadashi to go roller skating." She certainly left no room for argument, which Hiro seemed to recognize, even if his face indicated that he had some concerns.

"Take Baymax with you." What the heck is a baymax? From the fact that the two were already almost out the door, Kyouji guessed it was the large carrying crate that the woman had tucked under her arm. What was it, some giant first-aid kit?

"And for goodness sake take a helmet!" The woman saluted before continuing out the door.

Kyouji saw that his order was ready and went to collect it just in time to hear Hiro mutter, "This couldn't end badly at all."

Returning to his seat, he noticed that the kid was putting on his skates and helmet just outside the door while receiving what Kyouji guessed were instructions. The woman went down to the end of the street just in time for one of the most obnoxious grinding noises Kyouji had ever heard to start up, coming from a coffee machine behind the counter.

Well, there went Kyouji's chance of hearing anything useful for a while, though visual clues were just as useful. The poor kid looked terrified, holding on to the light post as if it were a lifeline, glancing frequently at the box (the baymax?).

Kyouji laughed to himself, as it looked like Tadashi wasn't going to willingly let go anytime soon. He couldn't blame him, that hill was steep. Finally letting go, Tadashi started to travel down the hill, faster and faster. Kyouji really hoped he didn't get himself killed. That would cause some issues.

_The kid was actually doing pretty decently, he might just-_ Kyouji winced, _nope, spoke too soon. _That had to hurt.

Kyouji had had his share of falls in the past, though their severity was greatly lessened when dark green scales had started to automatically appear to protect him. He subconsciously reached to pull on the sleeve that was covering their latest appearance. It was useful, he supposed, but they certainly took their time detaching to leave normal skin behind. He felt like they were some giant sign advertising, "Hey, this guy isn't normal! _Beware_!"

He had tried removing them himself before they were ready, but it had only made a bloody mess that resulted in newer, deeper scales appearing to cover the new injury. That had not been a good day.

Kyouji started when the box by the door opened abruptly and something white started to inflate from inside, before the full form made its way down to the pair.

_What the—Was that some sort of robot?_ Okay, that was a stupid question, but Kyouji could say without a doubt that he had never seen anything like it before. He had to wonder what other surprises this assignment would have in store for him.

The white robot blocked his view, so he turned back to his meal. The infernal coffee machine finally quieted down, and Kyouji was nearly finished when the woman and the kid came through the door. The robot was apparently slower than the two, even with one of them injured, though it didn't look like the kid was limping.

"You guys were gone for like, five minutes." Hiro definitely sounded nervous.

"Yeah, um, Hiro? I think you might want to see this." So you failed at keeping a kid from injuring himself, big deal. He seemed fine now. The color red on her hand caught his eye; had she been injured too?

"I-is that blood?" Hiro seemed to notice as well and looked like he was on the verge of panicking. The woman pulled her hand back before taking a hold of Hiro's arm with the other hand and leading him towards what Kyouji assumed was a storage room, Tadashi trailing behind them and the robot (baymax?) coming through the door to join.

"We're both fine, Hiro." She certainly seemed sure of that, and Kyouji vaguely wanted to see the fallout when Hiro discovered the injury, but they were out of hearing range. Or they had all suddenly stopped talking for no apparent reason. That worked too.

There was no way he could follow after them, and with the other couple in the café, eavesdropping was out of the question. What would he even say to that?

_Oh, yeah. I was really worried about this kid that I don't know, but who ran into me at a store. I also think he doesn't trust me, but don't listen to anything he says, he's just a kid._

That would go over really well.

After finishing his food, Kyouji sat there waiting for the check. This was the stupidest system he had ever heard of. What was to prevent him from simply walking out the door without paying? Well, other than the fact that he would probably need to return in the future if he wanted to have any hope of completing his assignment. His hair was fairly recognizable.

Seriously, what were they doing back there, open heart surgery? This was taking forever.

The woman made a sudden reappearance before dashing out the door and disappearing into the distance on her bike. What was it with these people running out the door?

Hiro reentered the room as well, though there was no sign of Tadashi or the robot. There had to be something else beyond that door; it wasn't normal to tell a kid to wait in a supply closet.

Kyouji finally received his bill, paid, and realized that Hiro was planning on closing the shop for the day. He left at the same time as the couple, resolving to return another day and wondering just what had caused such a strange reaction from the group.

**A.N.: for those of you who haven't already looked it up, Jadoku means snake venom in Japanese**


	9. The Contest

**A.N. This chapter was co-written with my motivator, sayagirl24 from tumblr. I should probably say that I don't own Big Hero 6, but you guys already knew that.**

Fred had demanded Hiro and Tadashi head over immediately, already overloading Hiro's phone with theories and references to obscure comic book characters. He had also sent a group message that insisted that everyone appear at his house within the hour, regardless of current plans.

Hiro laughed, passing the phone over to Tadashi, who scrolled through the messages while pulling back on his shoes, coat, and scarf. Hiro helped with the ties and buttons, completely ignoring Tadashi's insistence that he needed to practice if he was going to get his fingers to work right again.

Debating for a minute whether or not he needed to wait for Wasabi and his van to go over to Fred's place, Hiro decided that it would be a safe enough distance, if he took it slow and Tadashi used the helmet Gogo left, to use the bike. It was too far to walk with a five year old he would probably end up carrying half of the way, even though he was much lighter than normal. Hiro dropped the discarded helmet into Tadashi's arms.

"Be sure to strap this on tight, don't want you landing on your head and being unable to fix it."

Tadashi looked at Hiro like he had lost his mind; he felt like he had had enough near-death experiences for the day.

"Um, can I have the obsessively safe Hiro back?"

"I _promise_ you'll be fine." He'd thought after spending the majority of his previous years as an adult, Tadashi would be more comfortable around his own bike.

"Nope. We're walking. Or taking the bus. Like _normal _people." Tadashi placed the helmet by the front door and reached up to open it.

"Not happening." Hiro picked up the helmet again while grabbing his own on the way out. "I swore off riding the bus years ago when-"

At this, Hiro cut himself off, wondering how Tadashi would react to finding out how he had upgraded Baymax. He still had the pieces around here somewhere. Tadashi, however, wasn't going to let it go.

"When what?" Tadashi looked up at him accusingly, noticing the two helmets in his hands, "What did you do?"

Hiro tried to laugh it off, "Oh, nothing important." He strapped Gogo's helmet onto the child's head, laughing at Tadashi when he tried and failed to unclip it.

"Fine. I'll just ask Fred when we get there. I'm sure he'd know."

Hiro froze. Fred would tell everything and then some, embellishing as he went. He supposed he should come clean before he made it worse.

"Well... after you died-disappeared-whatever, I may or may not have givenBaymaxarmorandtaughthimhowtofly."

"You did _what_ to Baymax?"

"Hey! He himself admitted that the ability to fly made him a better healthcare companion."

"_Please_ tell me you didn't do something stupidly dangerous, bonehead."

"Well... I mean, not really, sort of," Hiro trailed off there, scooping up Tadashi and changing the subject abruptly by placing him on the back of the bike. "Just hang on really tightly."

"I'm pretty sure this is illegal!" The last word of Tadashi's sentence was nearly lost as Hiro started the bike and Tadashi took a death grip on Hiro, burying his face into the back of his brother's hoodie so he couldn't see what was coming.

If he couldn't see it, he couldn't be hurt by it. Yeah. That was how it worked.

* * *

><p>The bike slowed to a stop as Tadashi took mental inventory and decided that, yes, all body parts were accounted for. However, he didn't think he could open his hands after they had been locked onto Hiro's jacket for the twenty-minute ride.<p>

Tadashi felt Hiro shift and pulled his face away from his back, looking around before spotting a ridiculously large house through an ornate set of gates.

"Are you going to let me go, so I can get off the bike?" Hiro turned back to look at Tadashi, confused by the sudden change of behavior. He thought Tadashi would jump at the chance of getting off of the bike. "We can go around the block again if you-"

"No! No, that's not necessary." Tadashi pulled his hands free and quickly, if unsteadily, got down off of the bike before following a newly freed Hiro through the gates. Hiro was securing the bike to a stand when Tadashi spoke up again.

"This is Fred's house?" Tadashi pointed up to the mansion with wide eyes.

"Yup." Fred emerged from the front door, grinning widely, having arrived just in time to overhear the question.

"Mi casa es su casa, right?" Fred looked to Honey Lemon, who had arrived earlier and had joined him in the doorway, waiting for a nod of approval.

The four were headed inside when Wasabi's van pulled up to the side of the road. Wasabi made his way up to the door where the group had waited for him.

"I got your text." Wasabi held up his phone as proof. "The professor let us out a little early for his niece's birthday party, so I was able to get here fairly quickly. So why'd you call us over?"

"All shall be revealed," Fred spoke with what he probably thought was a cool and mysterious voice, but Tadashi just thought he sounded creepy.

Looking around the group, Wasabi noticed they were missing a member.

"Where's Gogo? I thought she stayed behind with you and Tadashi." Wasabi asked Hiro as they headed in, Fred starting to give Tadashi the tour, introducing him to Heathcliff. Hiro shrugged.

"It sounded like something happened at work, she had to leave. She should come soon, if she got Fred's text."

After following Fred around his house, they finally made it to his cave of comics, already seeing a pile on the table, along with a couple of books and what looked like a set of movies, though they couldn't be sure from a distance.

"Wow, you read actual books?" Hiro picked one up, seeing the cover of the second Harry Potter book. Tadashi elbowed Hiro, though it didn't have much effect from his height. Fred just laughed before putting on a falsely affronted look.

"That is both rude and hurtful."

"I am _so_ sorry, your majesty. I shall refrain from insulting your highly superior intellect in the realm of fantasy." Hiro mockingly bowed and both guys started laughing.

The other three had taken places on the overly plush couch. Tadashi was curled up at the end, resting his head, from which Hiro had graciously removed the infernal helmet, on the arm of the couch.

"Okay, so after you texted me, I had Heathcliff help me gather all of the things I had available." Fred gestured to the pile, pulling out a couple comics, for reference. "All of them about Phoenixes and their abilities."

"Phoenix?" Wasabi looked at Fred like he was crazy, as per usual, while Honey Lemon glanced over at Tadashi, starting to put the pieces together.

Hiro repeated what he had texted Fred, detailing the events of the afternoon, with the fiasco of attempting to roller blade.

"-and it probably has something to do with those markings you saw on his back, Honey."

"That makes sense." Honey Lemon smiled over at Tadashi.

"Wait...healing tears? Isn't that...unsanitary? You know what normally accompanies tears, right?" Wasabi's face twisted with disagreement.

"Who cares? He can flippin heal people!" Fred exclaimed, taking a seat on the couch, squeezing in between Honey and Tadashi, to file through one of the four or five comics he had gathered into his lap.

Clearing his throat, Fred began his presentation of sorts.

"So in this comic," Fred held up a copy of _Phoenix: The Protector_, "The hero's space station is destroyed, and he is rescued by a bunch of aliens, who were apparently responsible for mutating the human race from apes. He steals tech into his life suit, giving him powers approximate to a phoenix and taking the name."

"That really doesn't have anything to do with this."

Fred hushed Hiro, who had taken a seat in the opposite chair, before continuing to the second in the stack.

"In this one, the character Baron Zemo takes after his father by wanting to create a master race of humans, but falls into a boiling vat, leaving him with a hideously scarred face and he becomes a super villain. He faces off against Captain America, and though he doesn't have any powers of his own, he's wicked smart and creates a suit that gives him energy, gravity, and light manipulation, taking on the name the Phoenix." Fred looked at it consideringly, "He later sort of becomes a hero, but metaphorically stabs all of his friends in the back when he reveals their secret identities."

"I don't think that's what we..." Fred looked at Honey Lemon, holding up a hand.

"I'm just laying some foundation." He pulled up a third comic, flipping to a particular page with an actual image of a phoenix on it.

"This is known as the Phoenix Force, which is the 'nexus of all psionic energy'. It basically controls the universe and lends its powers to different hosts if they catch its eye with their telepathic ability." Fred pulled out another similar comic from the stack on the table.

"In this one, resulting from an attempt to destroy it, it explodes and passes its powers onto what are known as the Phoenix Five, giving them fire based abilities and mind control." Fred looked expectantly at Tadashi.

"No, I cannot read your mind."

"Have you tried?"

"It's not happening! Besides, if that's what happened, why would I be a kid?"

"Ugh, fine. I just wanted to check." Fred set the others aside and held up the final comic. "I saved the best for last."

He found one page in particular and showed it. The panel was a full-pager, with a blond man looking towards the sky with bright, fiery wings sprouting from his bare back.

"So, this guy started with just super strength, and worked on a space station with his pal who designed tech to advance his abilities. The end of the first comic has him being thrown into the sun." Because that's realistic.

"The entity of the sun takes pity on him and returns him to earth, kissing his forehead and giving him his new powers of controlling fire, to the extent of propelling himself with the flaming wings on his back. They don't actually burn him, but instead leave these marks when deactivated that look like someone has barbecued his back."

Honey Lemon quickly turned to Tadashi, "That sounds a lot like what you have."

"Dude! Maybe you've got your own set of wings!" Fred looked ecstatic at the idea.

"Wings?" Tadashi reached behind himself to touch his back.

"It'll be so cool!" Fred's eyes gleamed with excitement. "You can go flying around over the city, and heal people. Oh we need to think of a code name. Hmm..."

"Fred, calm down. We're still not sure of all his abilities." Hiro interjected, making Fred slump down in his seat.

"All the signs are there." He grumbled. "There's also this."

Fred pulled the mythology book off of the table, opening the bookmarked page and passing it to Wasabi, before pulling the stack of Harry Potter books towards himself.

"I use the myth book when coming up with new characters, and I remembered the phoenix in these books." Fred opened up The Chamber of Secrets. "Here, Fawkes purges the venom from Harry after pecking out the basilisk's eyes. In the fourth book, he heals Harry after a triwizard event, the fifth has him swallowing a death curse to protect Dumbledore, and in the sixth, he sings a song of lament that affects everyone in the area before disappearing." Fred paused, looking over at Tadashi.

"Apparently, a phoenix is loyal to a fault: willing to die for those it deems worthy, though it pops back up again soon enough."

"Whether they're actually worthy or not." Hiro angrily threw one of the comics he had been perusing down onto the table, before realizing what he had just implied. Maybe Tadashi wouldn't-

"And what do you mean by that?" Tadashi looked up at Hiro, upset that he was rekindling an argument that had been going on before the fire about Tadashi's lack of self-preservation when it came to helping other people. Though he guessed Hiro had officially won that one.

Hiro figured Tadashi would find out eventually, and he still harbored resentment towards Callaghan, even though he logically knew it wouldn't change anything, he was allowed to be angry. Honey Lemon realized where this was going, shaking her head at Hiro, but it was too late.

"Maybe next time you shouldn't go running in after selfish assholes-" "Hiro!" "-especially if it means leaving your brother on the sidewalk with no idea that you could come back."

"It's not like _I_ knew I could-"

"Which makes it worse!"

Tadashi bit his lip, knowing that Hiro had a point and wanting to diffuse the situation before it got out of hand. He responded in a much more subdued voice.

"You can't call him that. You can't call him that just because you lost me."

Hiro laughed derisively, "You don't even _know_. I mean, I guess you would have been physically an infant at the time, but _ugh_." Hiro dropped his head into his hands in aggravation, while the others looked on silently; even Fred had nothing to say.

"I don't understand." Tadashi looked to the others, but they remained silent until Honey Lemon spoke up.

"We should probably wait until Gogo arrives to continue this. She'll want to be here."

Tadashi wanted to protest the existence of yet _another_ thing the group was keeping from him, but knew Honey Lemon was probably right, and Hiro obviously needed a moment to calm down.

"I haven't been to SFIT since I came back... Can we go to the school?" Tadashi turned towards Hiro. "Please?"

Hiro stayed quiet, sharing a few glances between his friends.

"Sure."

* * *

><p>They all piled into Wasabi's van, and went over to the school, leaving instructions with Heathcliff to let Gogo in if she came while they were gone. It was only going to be a short trip.<p>

They walked up the steps, enjoyed the nice weather when Tadashi gasped, drawing all their attention towards the school.

"I have a building?" He walked over to the entrance sign hanging high above his head. The sign proudly stated that the hall was dedicated to one brilliant Tadashi Hamada, in memory of him and his contributions to the medical field (namely Baymax).

Hiro smiled sadly, briefly remembering coming to the opening ceremony of the hall, not too long after Tadashi's...disappearance, he supposed it was now.

"I want to go back to school." Tadashi's statement drew Hiro out of his daze.

"Tadashi... I don't know..."

"Why not? You graduated high school when you were 13."

"Tadashi, you can't go to college when you're 5." Honey Lemon bent down, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You'll draw too much attention."

Tadashi didn't look convinced. In the silence after the statement, Wasabi realized something.

"So, what exactly are you going to do about Tadashi being, you know, alive again?"

Hiro explained the paperwork he and Tadashi had filled out, expressing his concerns about getting things finalized.

"No worries, mi amigo." Fred spoke up when Hiro had finished, throwing an arm around his shoulders. "Legally, my parent's lawyers can make anything happen, though you may get questions from normal people. Tadashi will be completely official before you know it!"

Hiro was relieved to have that weight off his shoulders, and the conversation turned to the shopping trip that had occurred earlier that day.

"-You should have seen the cashier's face when we came up with a basket full of Legos, and a I gave Wasabi a card that had none of their names on it. I guess he didn't want to have to restock the shelves, because he didn't _say_ anything."

"Ooh! I have an idea!" Fred jumped in front of Tadashi, making him jump a little. "Let's have a building contest."

"Building contest?"

"I have a whole _room_ of Legos! Who ever can build the best building wins."

"You're on!" Tadashi grinned widely, the idea lifting his spirits.

* * *

><p>The group arrived at Fred's house in just enough time to see Gogo at the door.<p>

"Gogo! Lego building construction contest, let's go." They all passed Heathcliff, and Gogo just shrugged and followed along.

"So, which of you will be the judge?" Fred looked at Honey Lemon and Wasabi, thinking they wouldn't join.

Both gave protests, wanting join too, and Wasabi promised to make Fred's creation look like it was built by a caveman in comparison.

"Well, I guess that settles it. Heathcliff!" Fred called, and the butler immediately came in, having been cleaning nearby.

He seemed to have no reaction to the absolute _mess_ Fred was making while overturning crates of Legos into the middle of the floor. Although, considering what he likely had to put up with while Fred grew up, it really wasn't much of a surprise.

"Time us for 30 minutes, then pick out a winner." Without question, Heathcliff whipped an arm around to keep an eye on his watch. They each claimed a section of the room, spreading out on the floor while waiting for Heathcliff's signal.

"Begin." He said it softly, but it was enough for everyone to break into a frenzy, grabbing as many pieces as they could hold. Tadashi used his scarf to pull a large pile of Legos to his side of the room, since he couldn't carry very many at once.

The building started quickly, flourishing across the floor. While most of the others built high, Tadashi height was limited. Instead, he looked at it in a new angle, deciding to spread the buildings wide, having multiple short buildings. He recreated from memory the street with the café going down to SFIT, and had started on the next street over. He had become very familiar with the layout of San Fransokyo after having spent so many nights chasing down Hiro and rescuing him from dangerous situations.

The detail Tadashi put into the buildings made him warm with pride, which increased when he got the hang of snapping multiple Legos together quickly with his little fingers, but he still was intimidated by the structures everyone else made.

The given time went by quickly, each of them surprised when Heathcliff called time, making them stop. He walked around silently, taking his time to observe each creation.

Fred had a partially destroyed building with a stuffed Godzilla standing in the wreckage. Honey Lemon, her platforms giving her higher reach than even Wasabi, had built a towering pink, yellow, and red skyscraper that looked like it could fall over at any second. Wasabi had created a perfect cube with the colors in order, and it was almost big enough for Tadashi to lie flat on, if someone were to place him on top. Gogo had tried to create a working bike from Legos, but it hadn't quite worked for her, the wheel refusing to turn, so she had scrapped it and created a standard tall building instead. Hiro had attempted to recreate Baymax through Legos, but it didn't look like there had been enough white pieces, (Tadashi had used a lot of them in his own creation) so it was missing an arm and stood not quite as tall as Tadashi.

Heathcliff kept his face straight, making them wait impatiently, before nodding his head at the end.

"While all the creations are glorious, Master Tadashi has built a something quite unlike the others. I declare him the victor."

The others went to Tadashi's corner to see what he constructed, not quite able to see what it was from where they stood.

"Wow, Dashi. That's amazing!" Hiro admired it, walking around to see all of it, recognizing most of the buildings. He was surprised at the number he had forgotten about until he saw them in miniaturized form.

"You probably used the most Legos." Honey Lemon bent down, inspecting inside one of the courtyards, where Tadashi had created little benches.

"Thanks, Heathcliff." Fred released him to whatever he had been doing before, and then nudged Tadashi.

"So, Gogo's here, we should get her caught up."

Fred brought down his laptop, the second Harry Potter book, and the comic with the man with wings. Setting his computer on the table and plopping down in a rolling chair, he pulled up an article on the Phoenix for reference.

After filling Gogo in on most of the details, Fred ended his explanation with a description of the supposed marks on Tadashi's back, though he explained that he hadn't seen them himself yet.

"Okay, take your shirt off." Gogo took hold of Tadashi's shirt, pulling it up.

"Gogo!" Tadashi yelped in surprise, struggling to keep his shirt on.

"Oh, woman up! It's nothing we haven't seen before, except for, you know, the marks."

Tadashi was reminded of the time his shirt had caught in one of the machines at the lab, tearing it significantly and resulting in him having to change into Gogo's jacket in order to be halfway decent, though even it hadn't fit quite right. Honey Lemon probably still had pictures somewhere.

While Tadashi was preoccupied with his thoughts, Gogo finally yanked off his shirt, turning his shoulder so his back faced the group. The dark marks and slightly raised skin stood out in stark contrast to his pale skin.

"That's so cool!" Fred rolled his chair closer to Tadashi. "Does it hurt to touch?"

"No." He had barely finished his answer by the time Fred's hand touched his back, inspecting the marks more closely.

"Your hands are cold!" Tadashi jumped a little.

"No, dude. Your skin's just overheated. Guys, feel."

Though Hiro already knew of his higher temperature because of earlier with Baymax, he still laid a hand on Tadashi's shoulder, trying to determine if he was any warmer than earlier. He couldn't tell the difference.

"This is weird." Tadashi commented. The group laughed, removing their hands.

"So, what? We just wait for wings to appear? Or would they come out in time of need?" Wasabi had declined to touch Tadashi's back, relying on the words of his friends. "Could they come out right now?" He put a distance between himself and Tadashi, as if expecting flames to come leaping towards him.

"I'm not sure." Fred looked back to his website, wondering if he could find answers there.

"What about his tears?" Gogo asked, looking to Hiro.

"We don't know much more than what happened earlier." Tadashi nodded at Hiro's statement, and was slightly worried at the look that came over Fred and Gogo's faces.

"So we need to make him cry." Fred smiled slyly.

"Um...no." Tadashi shook his head. "Not going to work. I can't just cry on demand."

"Have you tried stepping on a Lego?" Gogo reached down and offered one of the abandoned Legos to Tadashi in jest.

"Not helping. Don't encourage him!" Tadashi tossed the Lego to the side, out of reach.

Tadashi was surprised when he was grabbed from behind, then taken to the ground. Hiro looked down at him, having snuck up behind him, and grinned before beginning his tickle assault.

"H-Hiro! Stop," Tadashi thrashed around, trying to escape from Hiro's clutches, laughing uncontrollably.

"Well it's a better route than getting hurt." Hiro smiled as he got revenge on him from when Hiro used to be so much smaller than him. He remembered the one time he had found Tadashi's most ticklish spot: his side right above his hip, and went to attack that, hoping it'd be the same now.

It was, and Tadashi let out a shriek of laughter, trying to turn to break free and protect his sides from the attack. Soon, his eyes gleamed orange, allowing Hiro to stop. The group went silent, their laughter dropping off quickly as amusement was replaced with amazement.

"Wow." Wasabi whispered.

Even though Gogo had seen the tears before, they still shocked her, especially since she could look at them without worrying about the impending doom to be brought on her by Hiro. The brilliant orange of his eyes was breathtaking.

Fred grabbed a test tube from a shelf –_why did he have that?—_and put it under Tadashi's eye, catching a tear as it fell.

"Looks like we've got ourselves a sample." Fred handed the tube to Hiro, who capped it and held it out for inspection.

"Do you think it will stay like this? With its healing abilities?"

"I don't know."

Honey Lemon helped Tadashi to his feet, and Tadashi wiped away the residue from his tears; his stomach ached from laughter.

He took the tube from Hiro, looking at it closely. He hadn't seen his own tears before, and was amazed at what he saw. The orange coloring seemed to swirl, captivating him as he stared at it.

Just what other secrets would he unlock?

**A.N. I do not own Harry Potter, Marvel Comics, or Atlas Comics, from which Fred draws his information. I did make up the comic about the guy with the wings and the sun entity, but that was because I couldn't find anything close enough to suit my needs.**


	10. Kyouji

**A.N. This chapter was co-written with my motivator, sayagirl24 from tumblr.**

The team decided to call it a night when they noticed Tadashi nodding off in his reclaimed corner of the couch in Fred's comic room, where they had reconvened for comfort to discuss the possibilities of Tadashi's healing tears and to eat the pizza Fred had ordered for the group.

Hiro gently shook Tadashi to wakefulness before grabbing the two helmets and following the group to the front door. The brothers were almost to the bike when Wasabi noticed their course of action.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What do you think you're doing?" Wasabi's voice stopped Hiro's hand midair as he had started to put the helmet on Tadashi.

"Going home." Hiro stated, looking up at Wasabi, exhausted in his own right. "He needs to wear his helmet... though it is one of Gogo's, so maybe it's too big." Hiro looked at the helmet again consideringly, before continuing to secure it to Tadashi.

Wasabi shook his head.

"No. There is no way I'm letting you put a half asleep five year old on the back of a bike." Wasabi reached out to the bike and started to lead it to his van, plucking the helmets from Hiro's hands and securing them to the handlebars. "I can take you both home."

"That really won't be necess-" Hiro interrupted himself with a yawn, "-ary."

"Oh, really?" Wasabi tossed his keys to Hiro, who failed spectacularly at trying to catch them. "I will take you home." Wasabi said sternly, not taking 'no' for an answer, while accepting the keys back from Hiro, who had sheepishly picked them up from the concrete.

Tadashi climbed into the center passenger seat of Wasabi's van as the two older guys managed to get the bike into the trunk after collapsing the back row of seats. Bike secured, Hiro slid into the seat next to Tadashi, checking to make sure he was properly buckled in. Wasabi began driving as carefully as ever, and began to nag Hiro as they left Fred's neighborhood.

"_What_ were you thinking? That was **not** safe!"

Hiro settled in for a 'Wasabi lecture', realizing it was going to take a while.

"-And I don't care if there isn't an age restriction for motorcycle passengers in California; a child shouldn't be transported like that until he can at least reach the passenger footrests. Especially not this far of a distance!"

Hiro smiled when he felt a warm weight fall against his arm.

"Shhh, he fell asleep," Hiro whispered as he looked down at Tadashi, whose breaths had deepened and evened out. He moved his arm carefully to wrap around Tadashi, making it more comfortable, and Hiro felt increasing warmth coming from him, though nothing unbearable.

Wasabi relented, deciding that Hiro would only hear what he wanted to hear.

"Long day, huh?" Wasabi chuckled, speaking in a much softer voice, not daring to look back as he kept his eyes on the road.

"Yeah. Lots of adventures. Honey probably has enough pictures to fill a new scrapbook." Hiro looked up at Wasabi. "Do you have class tomorrow?"

"No, I'm off. My ten a.m. was cancelled. Why? You need help with the cafe?"

Hiro nodded, belatedly realizing Wasabi wouldn't see it. "That would be very appreciated, yes. You know how Mondays are."

Wasabi nodded sympathetically. "No problem. I'll come early to help open the shop."

Wasabi finally pulled in front of the café, taking an extra minute to park at the curb. He then popped the trunk and wheeled the bike around the side of the building, securing it to the bike stand.

Hiro didn't have the heart to wake Tadashi, so while Wasabi was busy with the bike, Hiro carefully unbuckled Tadashi before lifting him into his arms, being careful not to jostle him. He had known Tadashi was light, but it was still unsettling to carry a child and feel like he was lifting nothing more than a pillow. A very warm pillow.

Wasabi took the house keys from Hiro and unlocked the door, turning on a few lights for Hiro as they made their way upstairs. Hiro carried Tadashi up to his bed, tucking him in before inspecting his own, finding the blankets still damp from the morning and having been left wadded up all day in a cold room.

"I may regret asking, but what happened here?" Wasabi grimaced at the mess.

"It's just water. It was Tadashi's way of waking me up." Hiro regretted not having dealt with it earlier when he hadn't been so tired. He stripped the damp sheets from the bed, which had absorbed excess moisture from the comforter, bundled them up and took them to the dryer downstairs. They weren't necessarily dirty, so there was no sense in washing them.

When Hiro had trudged back up the stairs to his room, he found Wasabi straightening the clutter on his desk.

"Wasabi, seriously?" Hiro had no problem with him organizing his own space, but there were limits.

"What? It's a mess." His cleanliness went into overdrive when Hiro opened his closet to find another set of sheets.

"Dude."

"Look, I haven't really had the time to clean up around here okay? You know, older brother coming back as a five year old kinda messes with things."

"It _looks_ like you haven't cleaned in months."

Their whispers were interrupted when they heard Tadashi shift in the bed. They switched to wild gestures, not wanting to wake Tadashi, but both trying to get their point across as Wasabi tried to clean and Hiro tried to convince him it wasn't necessary. Hiro eventually caved with a loud sigh followed by a quick glance in Tadashi's direction. Good, he hadn't woken.

Hiro begrudgingly helped with some of the cleaning, deciding he would probably be able to go to sleep faster if he did. He put the dry sheets and comforter on the bed and took Tadashi's ripped jeans down to the garbage.

At one point after Hiro returned, Wasabi knocked an unsteady action figure off of the desk he was desperately trying to organize, making him yelp more out of surprise than pain when it landed on his foot. He quickly stifled it, but a familiar inflating noise flooded through the room.

Hiro was quick to attempt damage control.

"Baymax! Shh!" Baymax put a finger on his face, mimicking the noise.

"Yes, Master Hiro." Baymax trudged over to Wasabi, quietly asking how he would rate his pain on a scale of 1-10. Hiro shook his head, looking over and being happy to see Tadashi had remained fast asleep.

"Master?" Wasabi asked. "He calls you master?"

"Yeah." Hiro shrugged, remembering when he had jokingly asked Baymax to call him that after watching a marathon of Batman cartoons, and Baymax had ended up sticking with it, especially when Hiro was being ridiculous. "He doesn't say it all the time, but convincing him not to hasn't worked."

Baymax quickly confirmed no major injury, and performed a quick scan of Hiro and Tadashi before Hiro confirmed that he was 'satisfied with his care.' Baymax then returned to his charging station and deflated.

After another couple of minutes, Wasabi finally gave up on the desk, deciding it was too large a task for one night. He wished Hiro goodnight, went downstairs, and drove away in his van, having locked the front door behind him.

Hiro waited until he heard the click of the door locking before flopping onto the bed and falling asleep where he landed, not even taking the time to get under the fresh covers.

* * *

><p>Hiro startled to wakefulness and silenced his alarm as quickly as he could, before checking to make sure it hadn't woken Tadashi. Through the divider, he saw the smaller form stir, turning to his side, but he showed no other signs of waking up any time soon.<p>

Problem averted, Hiro sighed, falling back onto the bed and debating the merits of just sleeping until Wasabi arrived. After a moment of consideration, Hiro sighed again, still not wanting to get up, and forced himself to roll out of bed to get ready for the day.

He had barely made it downstairs after brushing his teeth and taking a quick shower, when he heard a knock at the door. Punctual as always. He welcomed Wasabi in and made coffee for them both from one of the non-evil machines, allowing Wasabi to pour his own so he wouldn't complain about the incorrect concentration of milk or sugar in his coffee.

Once they were both properly caffeinated, they started their usual routine of opening the shop. Wasabi looked over the pastries from the previous day, tossing the ones that did not meet his standards of freshness and putting marked down labels in front of the others. Hiro got a batch of fresh pastries started, and double-checked the sandwich supplies to make sure he had what was needed for the day. Wasabi was not allowed to do the first batch of pastries, even though his normally came out better than Hiro's; he took far too long making sure everything was perfect.

Once everything was relatively in order, Hiro looked to Wasabi, who nodded, before he flipped the sign on the door to 'OPEN', and let in the handful of early morning regulars in dire need of their before-work coffee. The two bustled around, making coffee and selling pastries to the steadily increasing crowd.

After the initial rush calmed down a little, when it was late enough that many customers had left for work, Hiro let himself lean against the counter to recuperate from the mad scramble. Who needed exercise when you were on your feet most of the day? Wasabi chuckled at Hiro when he dropped his head to the counter with an overly dramatic sigh, prompting him to lift his head and childishly stick his tongue out at Wasabi.

Wasabi glanced around the café at the various patrons busy with their meals and chatting to each other. He noticed a red-haired guy lingering just outside the door as if trying to decide whether or not to enter, looking into the shop through the glass.

"Do you know this guy?" Wasabi nudged Hiro, pointing him out. "He looks like he's afraid he'll get struck by lightning if he walks through the door."

"I don't know his name, but I think I recognize him." Hiro shrugged, "I'm pretty sure he came in yesterday." He wasn't completely positive, what with the craziness surrounding Tadashi, but red hair wasn't exactly common in San Fransokyo.

Apparently making up his mind, the guy finally entered and walked up to the counter, ordering a small coffee and a donut. He took a seat at the table closest to the counter while he waited for his coffee to brew, glancing over every now and then, and seemed content to drum his fingers on the table absentmindedly.

Wasabi brought his order to the table, receiving minimal response in thanks.

"Someone's chatty," Wasabi muttered to Hiro when he came back around the counter.

Hiro shrugged as he took more empty mugs to the sink; it wasn't uncommon for the earlier crowd to be less than friendly before they got their morning coffee. Hiro had learned to ignore it: people became nicer once they were awake.

"I'm sure it isn't personal." Hiro swore to himself when one of the mugs slipped from his grasp and shattered on the floor.

"Yeah, but he just seems a little... off." Wasabi kept an eye on him as Hiro picked up the pieces of the mug and deposited them into the trash before going to get a broom.

"You're just being paranoid. Again." It wasn't the first time Wasabi had thought such things about a customer, and it likely wouldn't be the last.

The morning crowd had mostly filtered out, and the lunch crowd was yet to arrive, leaving them with only one customer in the café: the very customer that Wasabi had been commenting on. He had apparently just finished the last dregs of his coffee and approached the counter to pay.

"Good morning." Hiro smiled at him, accepting the money and counting out the change.

"Morning." He replied, keeping his head a little low, not quite looking Hiro in the eye. "You guys looked pretty busy, do you not have any other help?"

Hiro was a little shocked that someone had asked; normally people acted like they didn't even notice the lack of workers and just expected to be served as quickly as at a larger scale café. He looked over to Wasabi, who had a similar expression of surprise, before turning back to answer.

"Well actually my aunt owns the café and usually runs it as well, but she's..." Hiro paused, but decided it couldn't hurt for anyone to know, "She's in the hospital at the moment, so I'm taking care of it for now."

"Must be difficult, huh?"

"It's not too bad." Hiro laughed, "It's kinda fun most of the time. It certainly keeps me busy."

The guy nodded in understanding, causing red hair fall over his eyes, which he absentmindedly pushed away from his face. He looked like he was going to say more, but instead turned to leave, muttering a quick goodbye.

"Come back soon." Hiro automatically recited the line Aunt Cass had drilled into him when he was younger in the hope that his cuteness would make customers want to come back.

The guy nodded before going out the door, letting it shut behind him with the jingle of bells that had been hung to alert Hiro when someone walked into the café. Apparently, spacing out and forcing a customer to address you first is considered bad customer service.

Looking around the now empty café, Hiro estimated that he had a couple hours before the bulk of the meager Monday lunch crowd arrived. He grabbed a sandwich for himself, and Wasabi created and ate some vegetarian configuration of foods that Hiro didn't even know what to call. It was still before noon, and Hiro wondered if Tadashi had woken up yet.

They both finished their food, and Hiro started cleaning the dishes he had piled in the sink. Wasabi wiped down each of the vacated tables, before turning to Hiro.

"Do you think you'll need any more help today?" He wouldn't leave if Hiro actually needed him, but finals were in a month and every bit of preparation was important.

"No, you can leave if you want. I'm sure you're busy." Hiro washed the unbroken cups, stacking them neatly with the others. "Thanks for helping out again."

"No problem." The door announced Wasabi's departure, leaving Hiro alone in the cafe.  
>Hiro dried the last dish and was in the process of putting it away when his cellphone rang. A clip of "Sail" denoted Wasabi's particular ringtone, which he claimed to dislike, though he secretly found it as amusing as the others had when they heard it for the first time.<p>

_- 'blame it on my OCD, baby' - _

Hiro wondered what Wasabi might have forgotten, and pulled his cell out of his pocket to answer it.

"Hel-"

"I ALMOST RAN HIM OVER! _ohmygod_, I didn't see him and he got hit and I need **help**, Hiro!" Wasabi yelled over the phone at a frantic pace, making Hiro hold it away from his ear to protect his hearing.

Wait, Wasabi hit someone? Hiro was almost out the door when he realized he didn't know where he was supposed to go.

"Where are you?"

"Just down the street from the café. _Hurry_."

Hiro left the store quickly, almost forgetting to lock it behind him in his haste, and ran down the street.

He quickly found Wasabi crouching next to the red-haired guy from earlier. He didn't seem too badly hurt, since he was sitting up on his own, but he was cradling his arm in such a way that suggested an injury.

Even at the distance he was from the two, Hiro could hear Wasabi frantically asking various questions about his injuries, such as whether or not he had a headache. Hiro pitied the guy, getting hit by a car and then having to deal with Wasabi's neurotic tendencies was a bad way for anyone to start their day.

As he approached the pair, Gogo pulled up on her bike, having been on her way to the café.

"What happened here?" She stopped, leaning over Wasabi's shoulder to see. The guy's face was twisted in pain; dark red blood seeped through the sleeve of his untorn shirt. Wasabi still seemed convinced a concussion was involved.

"Can you remember your name? Spell it for me, er... in English letters."

"Kyouji Shakuzai. K-Y-O-U-J-I..."

"Seriously, what happened?"

"Not now, Gogo."

Hiro decided that it would be faster to have Baymax look over him before they tried taking him to the notoriously busy hospital nearby.

"Alright, let's get him back to the café to see Baymax."

"Hey, wait-"

Wasabi easily lifted Kyouji to his feet, despite his protests. He was careful not to jar the injured arm, which Kyouji was keeping very close to his body, while shepherding him towards the café. Hiro ran ahead to unlock the door before running upstairs to get Baymax.

Wasabi led Kyouji to the back room and set him down on a crate just as Hiro was walking down the stairs with the charging station in his arms. Hiro had been careful to not disturb Tadashi's sleep; the kid was still out cold.

"Hello? Gogo? Where is every-" Honey Lemon walked into the back room to see if Gogo, who she had agreed to meet for lunch, was back there. "Oh my gosh, what happened?"

She was in front of Kyouji in a flash, looking at the arm he was still shielding and holding close to his side. She didn't exactly wait for a response.

"You said your name was Kyouji, right?"

"Yeah... you're- Honey Lemon," Kyouji chuckled humorlessly. "We really need to stop meeting like this."

"Wait, you know him?" Gogo _still_ didn't know what happened, but she was determined to get at least one of her questions answered.

"Sort of, we've run into each other before."

"_Literally_." It was said under his breath, but everyone was close enough to hear it.

Kyouji was looking nervously at the crate Hiro had set on the floor and was clearly becoming agitated by the number of people in the small space with him. Hiro guessed the shock was wearing off and their guest was wondering why they hadn't taken him to the hospital yet.

"Ow." Hiro said flatly, causing Baymax to quickly inflate. "I need you to scan-"

He stopped midsentence once he turned around to see Kyouji. Golden eyes were wide in panic; his breathing quickened and became shallow. Kyouji shook his head violently, trying to back away, but the crate didn't leave much room for maneuvering. He was visibly shaking.

Hiro was confused as to why he'd be scared; though admittedly Baymax wasn't exactly something you saw everyday. Tadashi had built Baymax in a non-threatening way to _avoid_ scaring people, but it looked like this guy was about to have a panic attack.

"He seems to be in distress. I will scan-"

"No, Baymax. I'm satisfied with my care." Hiro tried to do damage control by deactivating him quickly.

"But he is clearly injured." Baymax protested. Hiro had made it so Baymax was better at following instructions, but he still questioned them sometimes.

"Baymax," Hiro said firmly, "I am satisfied with my care."

"Yes, Master Hiro." Baymax deflated, and Kyouji visibly relaxed.

"We can take you to a hospital." Honey Lemon put her hand on his uninjured shoulder, intending to lead him out.

"No, I'm okay. Really." He let his arm fall and moved his fingers, wincing slightly. "Nothing's broken; it's just a few scrapes. I'll be fine." He stood up as worried looks were passed around the group.

"You should at least get checked..." Wasabi tried to insist, but Kyouji simply shook his head again.

"Really, I'm fine... Thanks though." He looked like he wanted to bolt, cautiously looking at the group surrounding him.

Hiro nearly laughed at how uncomfortable Kyouji looked, thinking it was lucky for him Fred hadn't come as well. His group tended to be a bit overbearing at times.

Honey Lemon reluctantly moved out of the way and Kyouji was finally able to escape the circle that had formed around him. He slightly waved goodbye with his uninjured arm before quickly leaving the café.

"So, what happened?" If Gogo was anything, she was persistent.

Wasabi sighed deeply, leaning against the doorframe.

"Okay, so it wasn't really my fault-"

"Wait, _you_ did that? This I've _got_ to hear." Gogo reached for her phone in order to record whatever Wasabi was going to say in his defense. This was going to be good.

"Gogo! Is that really necessary?" Wasabi was not pleased.

"Yes." She held it out towards him in a way reminiscent of a reporter during an interview. "Start talking."

"No, but- ugh." Running a hand down his face, Wasabi quickly tried gather his thoughts.

"Okay, so I left the café, and I was _going _to head home to study for finals. I checked my mirrors like five times, but as I pulled forward, he walked out from in front of this delivery truck that was dropping something off down the street. I wasn't going very quickly yet, but it was so sudden that even after applying the breaks... I hit him."

"_You_ hit someone with your car?"

"It was an accident! What was I supposed to do?"

Hiro finally cracked and started laughing.

"I'm sorry," he wheezed, "this shouldn't be funny." But he couldn't stop, even after valiant effort.

"It isn't. He could have been seriously hurt. Heck, he probably _is_ hurt worse than he showed. Why didn't we just force him to the hospital?" Wasabi probably could have managed it.

Tadashi picked this moment to come down the stairs, rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

"What's everyone doing here?" He murmured, still waking up. "What hospit- ow!" Not paying attention combined with being half-asleep resulted in a stubbed toe on Baymax's charging station.

Baymax inflated once again to check on Tadashi.

"He's fine, Baymax." Hiro patted Baymax on the back as he passed Tadashi to make more coffee. The lunch crowd was due to arrive sooner than he'd like.

"Is there anyone else you do not wish for me to treat, Master Hiro?"

"I am satisfied with my care, Baymax."

He deflated once again as Tadashi approached Hiro.

"_Again_ with the 'master'?" Tadashi seemed a little upset, reminding Hiro that he was still angry about the other 'upgrades' he'd done to Baymax.

"It was a _joke_." Hiro tried explaining, but the stare he got didn't lighten up. Tadashi just sighed and grabbed a blueberry muffin from the counter, wondering how much Hiro had corrupted Baymax by just being Hiro.

"It's not _that_ big of a deal." Hiro mumbled as the coffee machine started, drowning out any other noise.

**A.N. I wrote more after this, but it really wasn't coming to a stopping point, so I am sticking it in chapter 11. Also, I'm going to start doing a couple of one shots for scenes referenced in this story, but not outright told. **


	11. Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail

Nabbing a bottle of water from an unsuspecting street vendor, Kyouji tried to rinse the taste of the coffee he had just finished from his mouth. It was useful in waking him up, but the aftertaste left something to be desired.

_Water should be free anyway. _

He finished the bottle and pulled his sorry excuse for a cell phone out of his pocket; he had a call to make. Kyouji heard four rings before the person on the other side picked up.

"One day in and you're already calling for back-up? Wow, Jadoku. You're slipping."

"Don't be stupid; why would I choose _you_ to back me up, Himitsu?"

"Well, I was gonna say that I'd be the least likely to stab you in the back, but after _that_ comment..."

Kyouji rolled his eyes, tossing the bottle into a trashcan he passed before leaning against a wall just off the street. He didn't want to be too far from the café quite yet.

"So, what did you call for? D'you need more syringes already?"

"No, not yet." Kyouji reached into his pocket to reassure himself that the two syringes were still there. "Besides, you know I can't front you the cash until I finish the job."

_ People don't carry cash with them the way they used to._

Himitsu laughed over the phone.

"That's right, I remember. Yama won't let you fence anything until you get the kid. ...Y'know, if you brought me something, I could get it sold; so long as I get some of the profit."

By 'some,' of course he meant upwards of 90%, but Kyouji knew that in a pinch it would be better than nothing.

"I'll keep that in mind, but I actually had a different favor to ask of you." Kyouji paused, considering how much information he wanted to divulge. "Could you forge a couple of reference sheets for me? Just some low key jobs and something that would pass a background check on criminal records."

"Considering you've never seen the inside of an actual prison cell -and no, a holding cell doesn't count- that second part should be easy enough. What are you going to do for payment?"

Here Kyouji hoped past business would pay off.

"I know it's not how you normally operate, but could I pay you post-job just this once?" Kyouji pushed his hair back with his free hand, knowing that refusal would make his half-baked plan far more difficult, if not impossible.

There was a pause on the other side of the line, and Kyouji had just about given up hope when Himitsu finally spoke up.

"I suppose I could, just this once, but the rate will be higher. It's not like you could avoid paying me, even if you wanted to."

Kyouji let his shoulders fall in relief, but Himitsu wasn't finished.

"However, I must insist that you tell me what you're going to use this for. Information is valuable."

He guessed he could divulge some of the information; he would just keep some of the key details to himself.

"So, Yama told me I would find the kid at this one café, but so far I've only seen him there once. His... caretaker, I guess, runs the place with only one other worker. They're clearly swamped."

"I'm not sure I like where this is going..."

"Just hear me out. I need some source of income until this job is done, and I could use another way of figuring out how best to complete it."

"And what makes you think they'll hire you? Isn't that what got you in this mess in the first place?"

Yes_, thank you_ for the reminder.

His father had threatened to kick him out at eighteen if he didn't start bringing home some form of rent. He'd failed to find a job, and betting on bot fights wasn't a stable form of income (especially if you didn't have much to bet in the first place). However, he'd always had the innate skill of going unnoticed, until recently.

"They definitely won't if you don't get me those papers."

"Your choice, man. So long as I get paid in the end. I don't see why you don't just swoop in, grab him, and run. You're quick enough."

"It really doesn't work like that, unless he wanders off on his own. He's got quite the group around him. I'm fairly certain one of the girls could gut me before I made it out the door."

"And you're _sure_ you don't need back-up?"

"Not yet, at least."

"If you say so. Oh! One more thing. I don't guess you want me to put 'Jadoku' in the name category."

Kyouji felt like hitting his head against the wall behind him. He had realized he had introduced himself to a member of their group as 'Kyouji', meaning that whatever forms he gave them had to match.

"Yeah, no that won't work. Do you have some paper right now?" An affirmative noise was given.

"Put..." He paused, feigning thinking, "Kyouji. K-Y-O-U-J-I. And for the last name Shakuzai, S-H-A-K-U-Z-A-I."

"Got it. Dang. Hope they don't speak Japanese."

_Well..._

"You sure that's the one you want?"

Kyouji nearly laughed, if only he knew.

"Yeah. That's it."

"Alright, I'll get started."

"Sounds good. Bye."

"Ja ne."

Kyouji ended the call and put his phone back into his pocket, deciding that he was done until he had those papers. Rejoining the flow of pedestrians, he noticed a couple of men carrying what had to be the _ugliest _couch in existence out of the back of a delivery van. He skirted around them, looking back as he started to cross the street.

_Who would even buy that?_

Kyouji caught movement in the corner of his eye, realizing he was _in_ the street, and stumbled back as the sound of screeching brakes filled his ears.

The collision wasn't nearly as painful as he had expected, even with his natural defense, but it was enough to knock him off his feet. He landed roughly on his left arm, skidding on the asphalt so that his sleeve was pushed up and his skin was torn from his wrist to his elbow.

Momentarily dazed, Kyouji unsteadily pushed himself up to a sitting position with a groan and was quick to pull his sleeve down to cover the green scales that were beginning to scab over the wound. His heart was hammering from adrenalin, and he could vaguely hear a frantic voice trying to get his attention.

_There is no threat. I am not threatened. I do not need protection._

His main focus was on stopping the spread of the scales before they became too noticeable. If he could calm down, they would only tend to the injury. Otherwise, they would continue to manifest until he felt safe.

It helped that he didn't taste any blood, which meant his instincts hadn't activated enough to cause his... well, he guessed he'd call them fangs, to flick down from the roof of his mouth. It was a stupid reflex that occurred when he was attacked and really only resulted in slicing open his tongue and getting in the way.

Thank goodness scales didn't manifest inside his mouth. It would make eating a pain.

The slight itch that accompanied the scales' appearance disappeared as his mind wandered and he calmed down. All that was left were sharp, bruise-like aches along his arm and the side where the van had hit him. Those were not going away any time soon.

Finally taking inventory of his surroundings, he noticed someone practically screeching into their cell phone. A familiar someone. _Seriously?_

"-down the street from the café. _Hurry_."

Well, that was his cue to leave.

Kyouji attempted to stand, but his vision rushed black at the change in altitude. He was quick to return to his previous position.

_Nope. Sitting is good. Just going to sit here for a while, no problem._

Kyouji blinked repeatedly to clear his vision, since shaking his head wasn't likely to be a good idea. He went to lean on his left arm, but quickly retracted it, cradling it as pain shot up his arm, starting at the wrist and lancing up through his shoulder.

"Whoa, hey. Don't try to move."

The large man crouched down to his level, and Kyouji confirmed that yes, this was the guy that had been working with Hiro at the café. Wonderful. Was this group trying to kill him already? Though, he did apply the brakes...

"Can you clearly hear what I'm saying?"

Kyouji nodded: he hadn't hit his head, and the movement caused only the slightest dizziness.

"My name is Wasabi, and I'm going to ask you a couple questions. Can you move your feet, do you feel any sharp pains upon moving, do you feel nauseous, can you see clearly, did you hit your head _at all_, do you have a headache?"

_Well, now I do._

The rapid-fire questions caught him off-guard, and the degree of panic in his tone of voice made Kyouji himself anxious.

"Um... yes, not really, no, yes, no..." Kyouji was interrupted when the woman that had taken Tadashi rollerblading pulled up on her bike. He shifted slightly to pull his injured arm closer to his chest, wincing as he did so and noticed blood was becoming apparent through his miraculously untorn sleeve. That would have made this much more difficult.

"What happened here?"

Wasabi (who has a name like that?) ignored her, and continued asking questions.

"Can you remember your name? Spell it for me, er... in English letters."

_No, really. I was going to name the kanji, maybe paint it out on the sidewalk with my blood. _

"Kyouji Shakuzai. K-Y-O-U-J-I..." This felt familiar.

"Seriously, what happened?"

"Not now, Gogo." However, he seemed satisfied that Kyouji was capable of the necessary mental abilities.

Kyouji hadn't even noticed that Hiro had walked up to the group before he spoke, and started slightly at his voice.

"Alright, let's get him back to the café to see Baymax."

Wait, that robot-box thing? Wasn't the normal thing to take someone to the hospital or at least call an ambulance or something? Not that he would have gone, but still.

"Hey, wait-"

Apparently the request made sense to the others in the group, as Wasabi practically picked him up to set him on his feet. Kyouji was glad he didn't touch his arm; if the blood were introduced to even the slightest paper cut, it wouldn't end well. Maybe he should start wearing a shirt with a 'Biohazard' symbol stamped to the front.

Hiro ran ahead as Wasabi led him to the café, the scary woman following closely behind. He was led to the back room that he had wondered about the previous day, and sure enough, at the end of the room was a flight of stairs.

Wasabi led him to a crate, which he sat down on, keeping his arm close to his body. He noticed Hiro struggling to carry a large crate from the top of the stairs when he heard another familiar voice. Oh, no.

"Hello? Gogo?"

_Who the heck was Gogo?_ Kyouji glanced at the woman who had leaned against one of the shelves and was popping her gum, who had instinctively looked towards the door at the name. _Maybe..._

"Where is every-" a tall figure entered the doorway, stopping mid-sentence when she spotted the group. "Oh my gosh, what happened?"

She was suddenly right in front of him. Who could even move that fast while wearing heals like that?

"You said your name was Kyouji, right?"

He was glad he stuck with it, since she apparently had an excellent memory. She even pronounced it right.

"Yeah... you're-" it was something weird that had to do with food, "Honey Lemon."

He had apparently remembered right, because she smiled slightly. He chuckled at the absurdity of the situation; this made three times.

"We really need to stop meeting like this."

Her grin widened, and she ducked her head slightly.

"Wait, you know him?"

Gogo, at least that was how he would refer to her until told otherwise, seemed mildly annoyed at the situation. Honey turned towards her, shrugging slightly as Hiro set the crate down with an audible 'thump'.

"Sort of, we've run into each other before."

"_Literally._"

Wait, did he say that out loud? Reactivating brain-to-mouth filter.

Glancing over at the crate, he felt a sense of trepidation come over him. It didn't help that there were already four other people in the cramped back room, and nobody seemed willing to move towards the stairs to give him some _space_.

He couldn't risk any of them getting his blood directly on them, though it would take an injury on their part to hurt them. _Why _was he there? Sure, they were nice enough, but it wasn't like... wait.

His mind raced back to the previous day when Hiro had insisted Gogo take Baymax with her. How it had activated after Tadashi had taken the spill. It was meant to **treat injuries**.

Kyouji wanted to bolt; he was so _stupid_. If the robot tried to help him, everyone would see the scales, and that would _not_ go over well. He started to panic internally. How could he get out of this one without freaking everyone out?

"Ow." A large marshmallow-like figure rose out of the box. "I need you to scan-"

Wait- _scan_? That was worse!

Hiro had turned towards him, but paused when he looked at him, seeming mildly concerned at the fearful look he was receiving. Kyouji decided he would play it up a bit. He _was _terrified, but not of the robot, per se. Maybe he could convince him it was a bad idea. He let the adrenalin flow to the rest of his body, causing him to shake slightly.

Letting his terror show, he shook his head violently, backing away in a clear representation of, _No, I don't want that thing near me_.

Please work.

"He seems to be in distress. I will scan-"

_It can talk?_

"No, Baymax." _Thank God_. "I'm satisfied with my care."

_But he didn't receive any care, why would he say that?_

"But he is clearly injured."

Was this robot _arguing _with Hiro?

"Baymax, I am satisfied with my care." Hiro said it with a sense of finality, right before the robot agreed, deactivated, and folded back down. _Interesting._

Kyouji let himself relax. That was one problem taken care of. Then Honey Lemon spoke up.

"We can take you to a hospital."

Finally, a normal response to hitting someone with your car, but he still couldn't accept.

"No, I'm okay. Really." The bleeding had stopped, and the wound was firmly closed as his shirt stuck to the scales on his arm. He straightened his arm, moving his fingers slightly, wincing as the bruised muscles pulled.

Yeah, that was convincing.

"Nothing's broken; it's just a few scrapes. I'll be fine." Kyouji stood up, determined to leave on his own if they wouldn't suggest it.

"You should at least get checked..." Wasabi looked genuinely concerned, which was a novelty to Kyouji.

"Really, I'm fine... Thanks though."

Looking around the group, he didn't see a direct path to the exit, and pushing someone aside wasn't an option. Thankfully, Honey Lemon moved out of the way, and he made his way out of the room.

Pausing at the doorway, he raised his right hand in a slight wave goodbye; there was no reason to seem outright unfriendly. He received a small wave in response from Honey Lemon and a nod from Gogo before quickly leaving the café.

Well, that could have gone worse. Kyouji wondered if he should still go through with his plan to get a job at the café, but decided he would stick with his course of action. At least they didn't think he was a freak. Yet.

**A.N. Yeah, it's kind of short, but I split the second half into another chapter, since it didn't fit enough to be considered the same. Chapter 12 should be up sometime this afternoon.

Ja ne: the informal way of saying "See you later" in Japanese**


	12. Confrontation

Tadashi hung around the counter as Hiro filled orders for the handful of lunch customers. He received multiple comments on how cute he was, especially from the female population. They never addressed him directly, though Hiro consistently introduced him as his brother; Tadashi noticed he avoided using the term 'little'.

Looking over at the table where Gogo, Honey, and Wasabi were chatting animatedly, likely teasing Wasabi for the events of the day. Apparently, Wasabi had nearly run over the guy Tadashi and Honey Lemon had met at Best Buy. The team had tried to treat him with Baymax, but he'd panicked and left the store as soon as they let him.

Even though he had initially felt uneasy around him, Tadashi pitied Kyouji. Getting hit by a car and then basically dragged off of the street into the back room of a café had to be stressful. No wonder he had been so quick to leave.

He was troubled at his reaction to Baymax; he had tried to design him so that no one being treated would feel threatened. Of course, Hiro had completely ignored that when he designed armor for him.

Tadashi's thoughts returned to a particular part of the conversation the group had had the night before. They were obviously keeping something from him, something important. Hiro had been so angry, and then... the subject had been dropped... too easily, really.

Tadashi waited until the last customer in line had been served and left the café before approaching Hiro at the sink.

"What's up?" Hiro dried his hands on the front of his apron and looked down at Tadashi, wondering at the contemplative look on his face.

"What won't you tell me?" And there were the puppy eyes.

Hiro mentally tried to figure out which thing Tadashi was referring to. Maybe he should make a file of 'Things Not to Tell Tadashi." No, then he'd find it.

Hiro realized he had paused for too long when Tadashi eyebrows pinched together in anger. Hiro scrambled to fix his mistake, even though he still wasn't 100% certain which particular thing Tadashi was referring to. He heard the jingle of the door opening, but he couldn't see whom it was from where he stood.

"Hey, um. Could you let me go talk them for just a second," Hiro gestured towards the front counter as he tried to ease his way past Tadashi. "Besides, we really shouldn't do anything unless the whole group is present, and Fred's not here, so..."

_Wrong_ thing to say.

"_No!"_ Tadashi grabbed Hiro's sleeve; though he could easily escape Tadashi's grip, it wasn't a good idea in this instance. "Stop avoiding it! You're just going to keep putting it off, hoping I'll forget about it, but I'm not going to!"

Why couldn't he wait until later to ask? Hiro didn't have time to deal with this right now.

"Tadashi, you're making a scene. Just go upstairs."

Tadashi pulled back and crossed his arms, glaring defiantly up at Hiro.

"_You can't order me around!"_ Tadashi practically shrieked this, and Hiro physically took a step back, feeling disoriented. _What the hell, Tadashi? "_Last _I_ checked, _you_ were the one keeping secrets from _me_. And I-"

"Everything okay back here, guys?"

Wasabi had heard raised voices, and had come to investigate. Tadashi looked like he was going to say something, but Hiro spoke first, receiving a glare from the five year old.

"Yeah, we're... it's fine. Could you go take care of the customer who just walked in?"

"Don't worry about it, it's just Fred. He had nothing better to do this afternoon and came to hang out with us."

Tadashi turned to Hiro, raising his eyebrows and tilting his head towards the main of the café. They were all present now. What was stopping him?

Fred chose this moment to come bursting into the kitchen, picking up a still angry Tadashi obliviously and spinning him around. Tadashi was too shocked to say anything beyond a small sound of surprise when he left the ground.

"Wow, you're light! So, have your wings popped out yet?"

"No! Put me down!"

"But then I have to talk down to you. Besides, you're warm and it was cold outside."

"Yes, I'm sure riding here in your limo was _such_ a hardship," Hiro snarked at Fred, though he was glad that he had arrived to distract Tadashi.

"I will have you know that I deigned to walk here, just to be with my friends, but if _that's_ how you're going to be..." Fred started to walk towards the door, still holding Tadashi, "I guess I'll just be leaving. And I'm taking my mini-heater with me."

Rolling his eyes at Fred, Hiro followed the group back to the table Gogo and Honey were still seated at. Fred plopped Tadashi down into one of the open chairs before pulling one up for himself. Hiro went to switch the sign on the door to 'Closed.'

Hiro wasn't really sure how to broach the topic, but a look from Tadashi told him he needed to, and quickly. Fred, however, spoke up first.

"So, I was thinking-"

"Congratulations, Fred."

"Hush, Gogo. Anyway, so I was wondering if Callaghan had something to do with- Ow!" A noticeable kick under the table interrupted Fred.

If looks could kill, Gogo would have been guilty of murder; Honey Lemon looked worriedly at Hiro; Wasabi looked down at his hands. Tadashi just looked confused.

"What's the big deal?" Tadashi got the feeling this was in the realm of 'don't tell Tadashi', but he couldn't figure out why. Nobody reacted like that to Fred's crackpot theories, unless... maybe it had to do with the mention of Callaghan.

"Is this about Professor Callaghan?"

Gogo leaned back in her seat, looking at Hiro as if she were silently ordering him to start explaining.

"Not exactly a professor, anymore."

Hiro's comment confused Tadashi. "Well, he couldn't be if he- wait, he survived too? ...Why are you guys looking at me like that?"

No one answered, each trying to think of what to say.

"Seriously, guys. What's going on? Is he okay? Is he dying?"

Hiro let out a slightly hysteric and unstable string of laughter, dropping his head into his hands. This only worried Tadashi more.

"Guys?"

"Tadashi-" Honey Lemon started to speak, but cut herself off, not really knowing what to say. They all knew how Tadashi had looked up to Callaghan as his role model, even a father figure in the absence of his own.

"Hiro?" Tadashi turned to him, staring him down as much as a five year old could, demanding an explanation.

"Well, he is alive and healthy." Hiro didn't look too pleased about it, though.

"So, what aren't you telling me?"

Gogo sighed in exasperation, leaning forward in her seat and looking Tadashi square in the eyes.

"We think that Callaghan was the one to start the fire in the first place."

"What?" That couldn't be right. "Why would you say that? Where's your proof?"

"And that-" Hiro interjected, "is exactly what his lawyer asked when he was taken to trial."

"_Trial?_"

"Apparently, 'motive doesn't equal a crime.' And what was that other thing he kept saying that made me want to punch him in the face? Oh, yeah: 'no body, no crime.'"

"But why would he even be on trial in the first place? And what do you mean by motive?"

It didn't make sense; Callaghan loved the school, he cared for the students. Why would he want to start a fire to destroy everyone's creations?

"He needed my microbots."

Tadashi just looked at him like he'd lost his mind.

"I- what?"

"He tried to use Hiro's microbots to get revenge on Krei for causing his daughter Abigail's apparent death." Fred spoke up now, only causing more questions to arise in Tadashi's mind.

"Wait, tried? Revenge? _Apparent _death?" Tadashi felt a pit grow in his chest, dread threatening to suffocate him. "I- He... no- he couldn't have..."

Honey Lemon sympathetically put an arm around Tadashi's shoulders, running her fingers through his short hair in a comforting gesture as she began to recount the events that had followed his disappearance, letting Hiro fill in the details of things she hadn't been present for.

Multiple instances made Tadashi want to interrupt and ask questions or reprimand Hiro for a particularly dangerous occurrence, but he mostly stayed silent, weighing each detail in his mind. He nearly had a conniption at the description of Gogo's driving when they were being chased. The only thing that stopped him was the quick explanation that it had saved their lives, and Baymax had been there to pull them out of the water.

Tadashi marveled at the description of each of their 'upgrades', looking at Hiro when Baymax's were described along with the chip containing the fighting instructions on it. Hiro had conveniently failed to mention it earlier.

He did, however, interrupt when Honey described the events on the island.

"Wait." He stopped her before turning to Hiro angrily. "You tried to _kill_ Callaghan?"

"Tada-"

"_KILL_? _Hiro_, you don't kill people! He-"

"He _let you die_!" Hiro's face grew red as he abruptly stood to his feet, knocking the chair he was sitting on over. "He _didn't care_ about you! He said it was **your** mistake."

Tadashi looked as if he had been struck, orange tears pooling in the corners of his eyes, though they couldn't heal this injury. He opened his mouth to protest, but Hiro wasn't finished.

"What was I _supposed_ to do? Take him to the _police_, who ended up doing **_nothing_**? Let him _go_? For practically killing my brother who meant _everything_ to me?"

Hiro's voice had risen to a yell, and he was shaking, tears forming in his eyes, which he brushed away angrily. Tadashi hadn't seen Hiro get this upset in a long time, and it scared him.

"Put yourself in my situation. Our parents died when I was three, and you became everything to me. Then one day you're _gone_, and the bastard who caused it doesn't even _care_? _Mocks_ it, even! Am I just supposed to get over it, when I have the power to get back at him?"

Tadashi tried to imagine losing Hiro, but it only made him more upset, and he was dangerously close to outright crying.

"I-I'm sorry. You have every right to be upset." Tadashi choked on the words. "It was still wrong to try and kill him. I- this is my fault. I shouldn't hav-"

"**No**. Don't you _ever_ say that, you understand?" Hiro looked positively murderous, though he made a visible effort to calm down. "You didn't do anything wrong."

Hiro sighed, pushing at his closed eyes with the heels of his hands before righting the chair he had knocked over and sitting back down.

"You're right that killing Callaghan wasn't the answer, which I realized for myself a while after the team stopped me and I left without them. I was replacing Baymax's scanner, and I lost it when Baymax kept saying, "Tadashi is here" and refused to let me remove his healthcare chip that stopped him from hurting a human."

_Good robot._

"Baymax showed me some videos from when you were testing him-"

**_Bad robot_**_. _

"You _saw_ those?" Tadashi buried his face in his hands in embarrassment as everyone laughed, the tension dissipating.

"Yeah," Hiro struggled to stop laughing to continue what he was going to say. "Anyway, they made me realize that you would never want me to kill someone, and I started to feel really guilty, especially when the team showed up after being rescued by Heathcliff."

"I honestly preferred the helicopter to flying on Baymax- no offense." Wasabi had always had a great fear of heights, particularly falling from them.

It was silent for a while, no one really knowing what to say, until Tadashi spoke again.

"So, where is he now? I mean, you said he wasn't a professor anymore, but you also said the police didn't do anything, and there was a trial, so..."

Hiro sighed before explaining the rest of the story: the attack on Krei Tech, and the use of the portal. He paused slightly before telling him about how he had gone into the portal to save Abigail, and how Baymax had gotten left behind, though he had been able to recreate him when he had found the chip.

Tadashi seemed initially upset at how careless Hiro had been, though he admitted it was the right thing to do, and that he was proud of him. But his question still hadn't been answered, and he repeated it.

"He's probably home right now, with his daughter. He wasn't found guilty for anything."

"Nothing? At all? How is that possible? You said he destroyed Krei Tech. With witnesses."

"And he did. He just had a really good lawyer."

Tadashi sat back, ready to hear the explanation. Hiro took a calming breath before beginning.

The lawyer had started by dispelling claims that the professor had set the fire, since there was only circumstantial proof, and no one had witnessed it beginning. It was therefore decided that he could not be charged with arson or the unintentional manslaughter of Tadashi.

Then came the part that had really angered Hiro. Since Hiro's neurocranial transmitter was just a working prototype in the realm of science, Callaghan's lawyer argued that no one could prove the effects it would have on a human being. There was also no way to test it, since it had been destroyed during the fight at Krei Tech.

It was insisted that after Callaghan put it on to protect himself from the fire, long-term exposure altered his brainwave patterns, heightening emotions both common and repressed and basically giving him temporary insanity. It was temporary, the lawyer had claimed, because Callaghan had returned to his normal self after he had removed it for a while, expressing disbelief at his own actions.

Apparently, Callaghan could have even continued teaching at SFIT, but chose to retire instead in order to spend more time with his long-lost daughter.

Tadashi turned these thoughts over in his head. They _could_ be true, though it was highly unlikely. However, one couldn't exactly _disprove_ it either. He wondered how Callaghan would react _now_, if he were to see him again.

"I know you're probably not going to like this, but... could we possibly go visit him?" Tadashi turned towards Hiro, since it was ultimately up to him.

Hiro blew air between his teeth, pulling on his sleeve as he considered the question. A mischievous grin grew on his face, one that unsettled Tadashi.

"You know what? Yeah. I can't wait to see his _face_ when you introduce yourself. Hey, Gogo, do you still keep in touch with Abigail?"

"Yeah. Honey and I hung out with her just last week."

"Cool. Could you call her and let her know we're stopping by to visit?"

"Right now?"

Hiro checked his watch; it was almost 2 in the afternoon.

"Yeah, now would be good."

**A.N. So, the trip to Callaghan's will be next chapter. Chapter 12 was also written with the assistance of sayagirl24, so props to her for getting the ball rolling.**


	13. Callaghan

The drive to Callaghan's house was completely quiet; even Fred failed to fill the silence as the team anticipated the inevitable conversation. Honey Lemon was driving, since Wasabi was convinced the earlier accident proved that he needed to avoid driving for a while, so Gogo didn't even have someone to gripe at to reduce the tense atmosphere.

Tadashi was in the back, seated between Hiro and Fred, where he couldn't even distract himself by looking out the window. He fiddled with the edge of his red scarf, which both Honey and Hiro had insisted he wear, even though he didn't think it was cold outside.

In fact, he hadn't felt so much as a chill in a while, long enough to start to worry about it. The first couple of days after he had returned had been plagued with near-constant frigidity, but suddenly, every trace was gone. He noted that he didn't feel particularly warm either.

Tadashi focused on these thoughts to try and ignore the growing anxiety about the upcoming visit, but his mind inevitably strayed back to it. Running his scarf along the palm of his hand, Tadashi tried to picture the professor he had known hurting someone. He tried to see him in his mind's eye deliberately harming someone for the sake of— of revenge. The image simply didn't compute.

Sure, he had seen the professor –_no, not professor...not anymore-_ angry before, but it had always been a cold, disappointed anger. Hands tucked in his pockets, Callaghan had always been one to use words _–biting words that left shame stuck to your throat, bound to your lungs, wrapped around your heart, because you knew they were true- _to express his ire. But physically attacking someone? Never.

Though technically, he had used mental attacks, which had caused something else to physically attack, which was closer to being a mob boss... Tadashi shook his head, earning a concerned look from Hiro, but nothing more. He wished he could turn his brain off, at least until he was standing in front of Callaghan and it was too late to try to back out.

Not that Hiro would let him get out of it. He had quickly latched onto the idea, seeing it as a way to get back at Callaghan, if only a little. The extent that Hiro seemed to hate Dr. Callaghan worried Tadashi, and he wondered if Hiro's presence would make the reunion worse for both parties. Not to say that he knew exactly what to expect.

Tadashi hadn't exactly thought this one through. He decided that he would probably have just avoided Callaghan for the rest of his life if he had taken the time to think about it. Now that he was already on the way, there wasn't much he could do, especially since he wasn't sure he wanted to back out when he was almost there.

Looking out the window, Tadashi felt his gut clench and his lungs tighten as he noticed they were pulling to a stop in front of an unassuming two-story house. Driving by, he wouldn't have been able to pick it out of the rows of others; though it was obviously well kept, nothing seemed to indicate that there was anything special about it or its occupants.

The doors of the van opened, and the group began to file out. Tadashi paused in the doorway, nearly losing his nerve, but Hiro nudged him from behind, and he climbed out onto the sidewalk. He didn't go much farther, though.

"You okay?"

Tadashi turned to Wasabi and saw that, yes, he was addressing him. He glanced towards Hiro's back, since he had gone ahead towards the door before looking back to his friend.

"Please don't make me answer that."

Wasabi dropped the subject, though not before sending a worried look his way, and the two went to join the group as they neared the door. Tadashi felt a growing need to hide behind someone.

Hiro reached out, and was about to ring the doorbell when the door abruptly opened.

Dr. Callaghan had clearly been on his way out; a winter coat was draped over his shoulders, gloves covered his hands, and he was in the process of putting a slip of paper into one of his coat pockets.

Looking up, he noticed Hiro, and gave an involuntary sigh of exasperation. Tadashi, who had hidden himself behind Wasabi, had to wonder what could have caused such an automatic response.

"Hey, gramps, had any psychotic episodes lately?"

Tadashi felt his jaw drop in shock. _Hiro!_

Callaghan chose not to respond to the question, attempting to move past Hiro, who was effectively blocking the doorway.

"_If _you'll allow me to pass, I was just leaving. I'm sure you lot are here to see Abigail."

Hiro stepped directly in his path again, with an impish grin on his face. "Actually, we're here on a routine check-up. Have you been feeling any sudden urges to murder someone recently?"

Tadashi looked on in shock. Hiro _never_ acted like this; was he _trying_ to rile him up?

_...Probably_.

Tadashi wondered if he should have come on his own, or maybe not at all. Looking at the other members of the group, they didn't seem too surprised, though Honey Lemon looked a little worried.

The professor Callaghan didn't become as angry as Tadashi would have expected, though it was clear he was getting annoyed. Maybe Hiro should just get out of the way; they could come back another time.

Callaghan didn't raise his voice, but the tone with which he spoke gave it a sharp edge. "You **really** need to let that go. It was five years ago. Stop bothering me, and get over it."

"What, like _you_ did, along with everyone else around here? I wonder what Tadashi would think of that..." Hiro paused, as if pondering the answer to his own question. "I know! Why don't we just ask him?"

Hiro turned to the group, spotting Tadashi from where he was still standing behind Wasabi. Tadashi froze.

"Wai-" Was Tadashi supposed to respond? Walk over? What?

Hiro, unfazed, walked over and put a hand on his shoulder, pulling him forward until he was in front of Callaghan. Tadashi immediately fixed his eyes on the ground, and Hiro kept a hand on his shoulder, presumably for comfort.

_Why are you doing this, Hiro?_

"What are you doing, Hiro?" Callaghan seemed to be of the same mindset.

"Aw, you don't recognize him? Hmmm..." Hiro paused, and Tadashi nearly looked up to see what he was up to, but kept his eyes glued to the sidewalk. "Anyone have a baseball cap?"

Callaghan wasn't impressed.

"Your antics are getting out of hand; don't bring a child into this. You can't honestly expect me to believe-"

Tadashi thought fast. He needed something only he and Callaghan would really know about, something he wouldn't likely have told Hiro...

Glancing up, Tadashi made eye contact with Callaghan and started to recite the first thing that popped into his head.

"The day Abigail... disappeared, Baymax shut down the power to the lab... for the third time. It took a while to bring the power back." At this, he looked down, unable to hold eye contact. "You wanted to know why I didn't use a battery in the first place, instead of plugging it into the wall. You said you thought I was smarter than that."

Callaghan looked at the five year old. He was still skeptical, but he appeared to be considering something.

"I... vaguely remember something like that. But how could you know-"

"Maybe because he's my brother, who _you_ let die." Hiro clearly had a plan for this conversation, and Tadashi didn't think he wanted it to play out.

"Do you really think I could have seen him after I shielded myself? Or heard him, over the flames? He shouldn't have come running after me in the first place! It is incredibly stupid to run into a burning building with out protection."

"I don't remember you complaining when I did something similar to save your daughter."

Tadashi wanted to leave. He would have gone back to the van, but Hiro's hand was tight on his shoulder, and he wouldn't have been able to leave unnoticed.

"That-"

"Is something going on?" A female voice came from inside the house. Callaghan fell silent, softening his expression as he turned to his daughter, Abigail.

"I was just heading to the store when I ran into your friends. We were just having a little chat."

"Well, how about you continue it inside? Standing there with the door open is letting all of the warm air out; I could feel a draft in the living room. Besides, I'm sure they're freezing."

Hiro made the universal 'after you' gesture, which Callaghan pointedly ignored as they all entered the house after Abigail. As they each shed their respective coat, Abigail started to chat animatedly with Honey Lemon about her return from England. The last time they had interacted had been through video chat when Abigail and Gogo had last gotten together, and they had quite a bit to catch up on.

Tadashi tuned out the conversation about long flights and stolen luggage, and focused on not bringing the attention back to him. He managed to get his coat buttons undone on his own, which he was glad for; he really didn't want to have to ask for help. He passed his coat and scarf to Hiro, since he couldn't quite reach the coat rack, before looking around. He'd never been in the Callaghans' house before, and he didn't know what to expect.

It was tidy, with rugs covering the hardwood floor and bookshelves lining the walls of the front room. A handful of couches and armchairs surrounded a coffee table that had a couple of sizeable books stacked haphazardly on it, the titles of which Tadashi couldn't make out from where he stood. The coloring was warm, unlike the lab or the classroom, and the room had something inviting about it, with a fireplace crackling merrily in the corner.

The group filed into the room, and Tadashi took a seat at the arm of the couch closest to the fire, enjoying the warmth that he had been missing for the past few days.

"So, who's this little guy?" Abigail gestured at Tadashi, wondering why her friends would have brought a child with them.

"My name's Tadashi." He wasn't about to let someone else answer for him, it had been happening too often lately, and it was starting to grate on his nerves. "Tadashi Hamada. I'm Hiro's brother."

It was bad enough that someone had mistaken him for Honey's kid; he really didn't want a repeat of that occurrence when Hiro was involved... or ever.

"Oh, I didn't know Hiro had a little bro- wait, 'Tadashi'?" Abigail turned to Hiro, "I thought your _older_ brother was named Tadashi."

"He is."

"But-" Abigail looked bewildered, looking between the brothers before turning to her dad for possible clarification. "Okay, I'm officially lost."

"Yes, Hiro. Do explain." Dr. Callaghan settled back into his seat, waiting for a proper explanation rather than the sparse mentions that he had been given before.

"Actually, I think I'll let Tadashi tell you. It's his story, after all."

Tadashi slightly recoiled when all eyes turned towards him.

_I take it back. Hiro can answer for me all he wants, he __**likes**__ being the center of attention._

He didn't even know where to start.

With the fire? Sure, if he wanted to start another argument on morality.

With his abilities? He was still coming to terms with those himself, it had only been a day since he had become aware of some of them. He wasn't even sure he wanted them to know about those. It would also lead back to the fire, though in all honesty, that couldn't be avoided.

Taking a steadying breath, and hoping that Abigail's presence would prevent any outbursts, Tadashi focused on Wasabi, trying to pretend that he would only be speaking to him. He was the least likely to distract him or try to prompt him to say something before he was ready.

"So, I've already introduced myself as Tadashi, and yes, I am the 'older brother'. I was in the middle of my junior year at San Fransokyo Institute of Technology, when Hiro entered the student showcase and got accepted to the university."

_Okay, now is where I have to make sure not to step on any toes. _

"A fire started in the exhibition hall, and I was made aware that Dr. Callaghan was still inside. I ran inside, but... I don't remember seeing him. I don't remember seeing much of anything. It's... kind of fuzzy. I do remember thinking that I should have been in pain when one of the exhibits that had caught fire collapsed and fell against my leg... but other than that... nothing. It's dark."

_Now, how to explain returning..._

"I 'returned to consciousness' as a child. Well, I was apparently pulled from the building as an infant, but I can't remember that far back, memories don't work like that."

_Of course they don't, everyone knows that._

"Um, no one could identify who might have left me behind, so I was placed in an orphanage until someone claimed me or I would be put up for adoption. I grew up relatively normally, at least until I started to remember. My old memories started resurfacing a week or so ago in flashes, and I would have days where I wasn't entirely sure where I was, since both sets of memories were vying for my attention.

There were days where I would go to walk through a door and I would reach for a door handle, only to find that it was much higher than I expected it to be. I tried doing things that I couldn't physically do yet, and no one would answer my questions about people that I shouldn't have known the names of. I think they were beginning to think I might be crazy, though it wasn't too unusual for a kid to make up imaginary friends or a family.

When I remembered how to spell words, I used one of the computers they reserve for the older kids to look up what I could remember and see how much of it was real. It was easy to find an article on the fire I had been pulled from, and the name I kept trying to refer to myself as matched. The memories fit after that, though I still didn't know _why_."

"Okay, sorry to interrupt, but it is a totally relevant question that I don't think will be answered on its own." Fred drew Tadashi's attention, and he wondered just how _relevant_ the question actually was. "What was your name? Like, what did they call you before you remembered?"

_Okay, so it was slightly relevant._

"They didn't know if or when I might be picked up, so they just called me Maigo, meaning 'lost child'." Tadashi shrugged. "It worked. Although, any time I introduced myself in Japanese, someone would try to give me directions."

This got a couple of laughs from the group, and Tadashi decided to continue his story so he could get to the part where he could pass it off to Hiro and stop talking.

"I remembered the Lucky Cat Café, though I looked up how to get there so I wouldn't _actually_ get lost. I managed to get my coat and scarf on, and I left when no one was looking. No one would have noticed I was gone; it was a big place, and no one expects a kid to actually go anywhere.

It had been raining pretty hard, so almost no one was outside, even though it had lightened a bit. It took me a while to get to the café, longer than I was expecting. I made it a little bit after the sun had set."

At this, Tadashi turned to Hiro, clearly indicating that he wanted him to take it from there.

"Okay, so this little kid," Hiro pointed at Tadashi, who chucked a throw pillow at him in response, "-hey! I'm just telling how I saw it. Anyway, he shows up at the café, _completely_ drenched, dripping water everywhere, and I see no adults in sight. Naturally, I'm a little concerned. I went to check on him, and I almost had a heart attack when I realized who he was. He told me... basically what he just told you.

I took him up to Baymax, who confirmed that it was _actually_ Tadashi, and not some strange mutual insanity. I mean, I believed him, but it was nice to be absolutely certain." Hiro looked at Callaghan with an expression that clearly stated 'I told you so.' "Oh! That reminds me. Fred, have you set up anything for Tadashi's paper work?"

"Yup! Got you covered. I told the lawyer what was up, and he'll handle it from there."

Tadashi wished he had been there to witness _that_ conversation.

"Awesome."

"So, wait." Abigail still looked confused. "That's nice and all, and I'm glad for you, but... what happened? People don't just turn into babies when they go into burning buildings."

Fred spoke up before anyone else could, clearly having anticipated the question. "I'm afraid that's confidential information."

_Wow, good job, Fred... wait did she just__** buy**__ that?_

Abigail simply nodded, though Tadashi supposed that working for a large, somewhat secretive organization taught her to respect that some of her questions might not get answered.

"Well, anyone want to congregate in the kitchen for some hot chocolate?"

Fred was out of his seat in an instant, almost beating Abigail to the door, and was closely followed by Gogo, Wasabi, and Honey Lemon.

Abigail turned when she noticed her dad had remained behind.

"Do you want me to bring you anything, dad?"

"No, thank you, sweetie. I'll just wait in here, where it's quiet."

Hiro asked Tadashi if he wanted to join them, but he declined. Glancing at the still-seated Callaghan, Hiro decided that they would be close enough to hear if Tadashi shouted, and if he left the door open, he could see most of the room.

Tadashi hadn't told Hiro, but he'd much rather stay by the fire. He wondered if he had the strength to move the couch closer, but quickly scrapped the idea. He chose instead to stand and lean against the brick that outlined the fireplace. The warmth and the appearance of the dancing flames comforted him.

He listened to the noises that filtered in from the kitchen: Fred's fast-paced speaking; Honey Lemon's laughter; the sound of something breaking. He was slightly worried after the last one, but upon hearing no sounds other than a slight scolding, decided it wasn't worth leaving the fireside to check on them.

"For someone who died in a fire, you seem remarkably comfortable around it."

Tadashi jumped at Callaghan's voice; he had almost forgotten he was in the room.

"Oh, um- it's just warm, so." Tadashi shrugged. "It can't hurt me from here, so why would I be afraid?"

Callaghan merely chuckled, moving to the couch Tadashi had just vacated so that he wouldn't have to speak across the room to him. He fell silent for a bit, before continuing.

"I'm sure you have questions." Callaghan looked over to Tadashi, as if trying to gauge how much he already knew.

"Hiro answered a lot of them, actually. I just... wanted to hear it from you. Why-" Tadashi couldn't finish the question, and couldn't look Callaghan in the eye.

Callaghan sighed, but was on guard. "Did Hiro put you up to this?"

"No! _I_ asked _him_ to bring me here, though he was glad to do it."

"Of course he was, Hiro won't be happy until I'm imprisoned for life or he succeeds in driving me insane." Callaghan was clearly agitated, and Tadashi was stuck between defending his brother against something that was at least partially true and letting it go to keep Callaghan from getting angrier.

"It's not without cause." Tadashi struggled with finding the right words, but his mind wouldn't let him ignore the one phrase that echoed through it. "It's just... you aren't who I thought you were."

Callaghan scoffed slightly at the clichéd phrasing.

"You always did believe the best of people, even to your own detriment. I almost envy that naïveté. It's a gift, of sorts." He sighed, and continued when Tadashi didn't speak up.

"People react in ways you wouldn't expect of them normally when those they care about are harmed... or in danger." At this Callaghan looked pointedly at Tadashi. "You can't honestly say you've never felt like that, when it came to your own brother's safety; you told me so yourself."

Callaghan stood up, moving so that he stood directly in front of Tadashi, looking down at him. Tadashi suddenly felt like he was on the defensive, and it was starting to make him anxious.

"But I didn't _act_ on it. Whatever state of mind you were in, you endangered _so_ many people, needlessly."

"Did I? Apart from property damage, what harm did I really do? You're standing here. Where are the casualties?"

"That's because Hiro _stopped_ you! You tried to kill **him**!"

"Would you be this upset if your brother hadn't been involved?"

"Y-"

"And what of Krei?"

"Wha-"

"What of your friends? They were all there, as well. And yet, you fixate on your family. Everyone else is secondary in comparison."

"That's not-"

"The same? Really?"

Tadashi felt his temper flaring, this wasn't about him, it was about Callaghan, and he couldn't even get a word in edgewise.

"Did Hiro tell you he tried to kill _me_?" Callaghan took in the lack of shock from Tadashi as an affirmative. "For vengeance, to avenge a family member, he attempted to take a life. But he was forcibly stopped. Tell me, have you forgiven _him?_"

"Of course, he knew it was wrong-"

"Really? Or did he just think _you_ wouldn't like it?"

"**_Stop it._**" The fireplace crackled as a log broke, sending sparks into the air.

"Stop what? Telling you the truth? Would you like me to lie to you?"

Tadashi decided he'd heard enough of this, and attempted to move past Callaghan into the kitchen to join his friends, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"**Let go!**"

And Callaghan did, quickly, and with a cry of pain.

Tadashi thought he felt his heart stop when he turned and saw Callaghan cradling the hand that had just been on his shoulder. The palm was bright red and was starting to swell. It looked... burned. Tadashi panicked.

Hiro, who had heard Tadashi's shout, arrived just in time to see Tadashi sprint for the door, and only spared a quick glare at the injured Callaghan as he ran after him.

His longer legs allowed him to catch up quickly, but Tadashi noticed he was following and stopped before he tried to grab him. Turning around, he gave the universal hand signal for 'stop,' though he kept his arm close to his body.

"Don't touch me!"

"Tadashi?" Hiro tried to approach him, but he continued to back away. "What's wrong? What did he do?"

Tadashi shook his head, and was clearly shaking, though not from the cold.

"He didn't— I—I burned him, Hiro. I didn't mean to, but..."

Hiro relaxed slightly; he had been scared that Callaghan had hurt him, somehow. "He had it coming, come on."

Hiro reached to put an arm around Tadashi, but Tadashi sharply recoiled, attempting to avoid contact.

"Didn't you _hear_ me? _I didn't mean to_." Tadashi was clearly on the verge of something akin to a panic attack. "I could hurt you, too."

"You won't." Before he could react, Hiro bent down and swept him into a hug.

Tadashi tensed at the contact —_why didn't Hiro __**ever**__ listen to him_— but allowed himself to relax when no harm came to Hiro, and returned the hug.

"See?"

"You _bonehead_, that was stupidly dangerous."

"We'll just add it to the list then: The Stupid Adventures of Bonehead and the Nerd!"

Tadashi giggled into the crook of Hiro's shoulder, before they separated from their hug. A look of realization came over Tadashi's face.

"I gotta go heal him!" He was stopped, however when Hiro took a hold of his arm.

"Haha, no."

Tadashi started to protest, but Hiro spoke over him.

"First off, he totally deserved that and more. Secondly, you would have to cry to get it to work, and just... no. Finally, you don't even know what effects your tears _have_ on other people. For all you know, you could turn him into a frog."

"You're being ridiculous."

"_Maybe_, you don't know."

"It didn't affect Gogo, when she got them on her hand."

"But she wasn't injured, now was she?"

"_Hiro._"

"_Dashi_."

"Really?"

"He'll be _fine_. He can just go to a doctor, like any other person. Besides, it serves him right for laying a hand on my brother." At this, Hiro scooped Tadashi up into his arms, effectively preventing him from trying to return to the house.

The rest of the group made their way out the door, Honey Lemon trading hugs with Abigail in farewell.

"Welp, looks like it's time to go. How sad. I guess I have to put my teddy bear down, now."

"Stop calling me that."

"Stop calling you what?" Fred had reached them, having been one of the first to walk out the door.

_Don't tell him-_

"Teddy bear."

_Dang it, Hiro._

Fred looked pensive for a moment, before a wide grin spread across his face.

_Oh, no._

The others reached them, completing their group of six, and Fred raised his hand the way you would when you had the answer to an easy question in middle school.

"I have a very important announcement to make!"

"Do you need to use the bathroom?"

"Quiet, Gogo, this is serious." Fred cleared his throat before continuing.

"I have officially picked a nickname for Tadashi!" _Wonderful._ "He shall forthwith and forevermore be known as... Teddy!"

Gogo let out a short bark of a laugh, whereas Honey commented on how adorable it was.

"...and I get no say in this, do I?"

"Nope!" Wasabi looked a bit too pleased at this; Tadashi needed to bring him down a peg.

"Could be worse. I could be named something like 'Wasabi'."

"Hey!"

The group laughed and began to pile in the van. Hiro climbed in while still holding Tadashi and set him down in the backseat.

Wasabi turned to Tadashi as he was buckling in, meaning to allay any worries that might be still on his mind.

"Hey, don't worry about what happened back there. At worst it was a first-degree, nothing worse than moderate sunburn. I think you shocked him more than anything."

Honey Lemon spoke up from the front seat. "I gave Abigail the quick run-down of what was going on, and let her know you probably didn't mean to do it, since it surprised you as much as Callaghan. Don't be afraid of talking to her again, she isn't angry, honest."

"Yeah, she was more curious as to what made you feel threatened. Callaghan had to do some quick talking." Gogo was clearly amused by this.

"Do you want to tell us what was going on?" Wasabi always asked in such a way as to not make you feel pressured to answer.

"Not really." Tadashi leaned against Hiro, using him as a pillow, firmly intending to sleep for the rest of the trip. For some reason, he was suddenly exhausted.

"Cheer up, Teddy. You never have to go back there again. 'The Hero has attained closure after a final confrontation with the dastardly Villain'."

"Really, Fred?" Hiro had started at what he had thought was his name, only to realize Fred was being dramatic.

Tadashi let a grin slip onto his face, and was quickly lulled to sleep by the steady movement of the car.


	14. Preparations

Kyouji pulled himself over the railing of the fire escape to Himitsu's agreed on meeting place, wincing slightly as his bruised side complained from being used. He had to be very careful not to let the syringes fall out of his pocket, which had thankfully remained unbroken when he'd been hit. While the building was technically one of the gang's official hideouts, it was rarely frequented due to the effort it took to get inside.

The downstairs door had been welded shut, and the fire escape was missing its bottom ladder, requiring the person that wanted to climb it to use the window ledge (the window was also boarded shut) to boost themselves up.

Suffice to say Yama had never been inside, which was fine by Kyouji.

_If it came down to it, Yama'd probably let himself get caught before trying to climb this._

Kyouji laughed at the mental image, before double-checking to make sure none of his bandages had shifted. Though they were completely unnecessary, they did a good job of covering up the scales under the pretense of a wound, which he should have sustained anyway.

Opening the door, Kyouji let his eyes adjust to the relative darkness, picking out what he hoped was Himitsu's heat signature before his eyes normalized to the level of light in the room. Himitsu was working at the sole computer in the decrepit apartment, cursing at the lack of internet, and using his phone to stream information. Leaning back in his chair with a sigh, Himitsu spotted Kyouji just as he shut the door behind him.

"You got here fast- thought ya said you'd been hit by a truck."

"It was a van."

Kyouji had called after escaping the group to ask where he wanted to meet to exchange the papers. Himitsu refused to text, and deleted all texts received before reading them, claiming they were too easy to trace and use as evidence.

Himitsu clearly hadn't finished yet, so Kyouji plopped himself onto the couch, biting back a groan when his injuries protested at the movement. Cuts, scrapes, burns, scratches, and the like were made null by the scales, but bruises or anything beneath the skin would have to heal normally.

"Why'd you get hit, anyway? You're fast enough to get out of the way."

Kyouji was _not _telling him about the couch; he'd never live it down.

"Wasn't paying attention. I did move a bit, otherwise it would have been worse."

"If you say so, Jadoku." Himitsu turned back to the screen, returning to the task at hand. "I'd say it's a string of bad luck, if ya ask me."

"I didn't." That was the _last_ thing Kyouji needed.

"Just saying, maybe we _should_ start calling you 'Kyouji'."

"You're hilarious." Kyouji's deadpan voice drew a chuckle from Himitsu, who checked his phone again and inputted something else in the computer.

The room fell comfortably silent, except for the sounds of the computer, until Himitsu finally pushed away and moved to one of the other machines standing against the wall.

"If they'd just set up the internet here, my life would be so much easier." Himitsu griped as he finished up the paperwork. "I mean, I get the need to keep this place under the radar, but it isn't _that_ hard to encrypt a signal."

He turned to Kyouji, as if expecting him to fix the problem.

"Don't look at me. I don't do tech, I just know what it's worth."

_Scientists can eat their lab coats and fancy gadgets, just stay away from __**me**__. _

"Which is why your phone deeply saddens me." Himitsu put the finished documents into a packet, binding it shut.

"Then give me a new one."

"You know I don't do anything for free." Himitsu grinned as he dropped the packet on Kyouji. "This is officially out of my hands, I can't be held responsible when those guys _actually _kill you."

"It was an accident; they were actually pretty nice about it..." Kyouji trailed off, remembering how they'd tried to treat him. It was too bad he couldn't let them; they could have given him something for the pain, if nothing else.

"Oi." Kyouji startled and then glared at Himitsu, having been poked in the forehead.

"Just keep your mind on the job. You still gotta pay me when this is all over, so try not to get yourself killed... by either side."

_Gee, thanks for the reminder._

"I'm not an idiot, I was just thinking about how I got a look in the back room. Looks like they own whatever is upstairs, too, and it isn't open to the public."

Himitsu chuckled, raising his hands in mock surrender. "Okay, okay. I'll leave you to plot."

Stretching as he made his way to the door, Himitsu paused and turned back to Kyouji.

"Just..." He tapped his phone against his hand, considering his words. "Don't get too attached."

Kyouji rolled his eyes at him, and Himitsu waved with a quick "Ja ne," before he was out the door.

Kyouji didn't feel like going back out the fire escape anytime soon, as he felt the effects of adrenaline leaving his system. A wave of exhaustion hit him over the head and the ache in his side apparently decided it wasn't making itself known well enough.

_Totally not worth it._

He was cautious enough to consider the possibility, however slim, of someone a little less than friendly coming in, and he forced himself to stand with a groan, picking up the packet as he went. The exterior door's lock was broken, so he made his way downstairs, locking that door behind him, and settled into one of the couches there, figuring it was as safe as any place to catch up on some sleep.

* * *

><p>The van pulled in front of the café and Gogo hopped out of the passenger seat, passing Tadashi's coat and scarf to Hiro, as well as his own winter regalia. Unlocking her bike, she pulled her recently returned helmet over her head, readjusting the strap that had been tightened to fit a child.<p>

"Well, I've got to run. I do have a life outside of you guys."

"How could you?"

Gogo rolled her eyes at Fred, popping a stick of gum in her mouth before speeding off.

Honey Lemon handed the keys back to Wasabi and climbed out herself, heading to the side door that didn't lead directly to the café. Hiro sat for a second with the pile of winter items in his lap, trying to figure out how he would pick up Tadashi without dropping anything, when said five year old stirred against him, waking up.

"Good morning, Teddy!"

"Fred?" Tadashi looked around, confused for a moment before yawning and sitting up straight, rubbing at his eyes. "Not morning... still afternoon."

Hiro laughed and mussed up Tadashi's hair before pushing on the back of his head to prompt him to get out the van. Tadashi batted at Hiro's hand and climbed out, allowing the others in the back seat room to do likewise.

"I'm going to head out, too. It was cool hanging with you guys, but I'm going to call it a day." Wasabi spoke from the front seat, and it was obvious that he wasn't entirely comfortable being behind the wheel. The van pulled out, and Wasabi was clearly staying as close to the median of the roadway as possible.

Hiro pulled everything under one arm so that he could unlock the house door, and he let the other three in before shutting it behind him.

As they hung their coats on the rack, Honey Lemon brought up the idea of testing Tadashi's tears at her lab, seeing what they reacted with and other basic tests.

"Hey, Tadas-" upon receiving a warning glare from Fred, Hiro paused, changing his words mid-sentence. "-Teddy, could you go get that vial from upstairs and give it to Honey Lemon? I've got to go reopen the café."

Tadashi nodded, having already removed his boots, and padded up the stairs in his socks with Fred following closely behind, asking if he still knew how to play video games.

Hiro laughed, shaking his head, and he and Honey went to the main of the café to open up. Honey started up the machines as Hiro went to unlock the door. Through the glass he saw an old woman, in clothing clearly not meant for her age group, hitting the glass repeatedly with her umbrella.

_Wasabi is going to have a conniption if that left scratches. _

As he unlocked the door, the lady put a hand on her hip, scowling at Hiro.

"If you are going to change your hours, you should post them."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Ms. Masuda, they haven't changed. Something came up."

"Well, I certainly hope it was important." She continued chastising him as she walked into the shop. "You run a business; there's no excuse for laziness. When Cass was running the place, we _never_ had this sort of problem."

_Well Aunt Cass isn't here_.

Hiro bit the inside of his cheek to keep from retorting as they made their way to the counter, behind which Honey Lemon had just turned on the cash register.

"I certainly hope _she_ didn't have anything to do with it."

As the old lady brushed past him to look at the pastries on display, Hiro had to remind himself that it wasn't okay to trip old people, no matter how much they asked for it. He traded places with Honey Lemon at the register and asked if she would refill Mochi's food bowl before she left, and she agreed.

Glancing through the back room, Hiro watched Tadashi pass the vial to Honey Lemon before receiving a quick goodbye hug. Hiro turned back to the café when he heard an impatient clearing of the throat, and hurried to fill the order.

"Here you go, come back soon." As Hiro exchanged the food for money, he received nothing but a mumbled "young people these days" in return before the old lady walked out the door.

When she was gone, Hiro sighed and leaned forward onto the counter, running a hand through his hair. Before Tadashi had come back, he'd been able to run the café easily on his own, with minimal help from Wasabi. He'd even had time to dedicate to designing or improving his prosthetics, but now...

Hiro sighed again, turning and brewing himself a cup of coffee. The past few days had been _insane_, and it didn't look like things were going to be letting up anytime soon. Hiro didn't want to miss any moment that could be spent with his returned brother, but he did have responsibilities that he'd been frankly ignoring.

He hadn't even spared much time for Baymax, and that was just... wrong. It was easy to turn him off and ignore him for a while, but he had become part of the family and he shouldn't just be thought of in emergencies. Hiro decided he'd activate him at closing time, and see what Tadashi and Fred were getting up to.

Letting the coffee cool, Hiro returned to the problem at hand. He couldn't easily run the café on his own, not if he wanted to spend any quality time with Tadashi. He wouldn't put the responsibility on Wasabi, either; he still had classes to attend, and he'd want to spend his free time with the group as well.

The money wasn't the issue, Hiro just didn't want something Aunt Cass had worked so hard to build up to fall apart in her absence. She'd be crushed when she found out. And she would find out. One of these days, she was going to wake up and come back, and everything could go back to the way it was. Hiro just had to believe that with enough conviction, and it would be true.

Finally taking a sip of the coffee, Hiro considered another option that he had rejected before, thinking he could handle everything himself. He could always try hiring someone. Granted, he'd have to get to know them pretty well, and he couldn't leave them on their own at first, the place _was_ connected to his house after all. There were always preventative measures he could take.

How does one even go about hiring someone? Hiro remembered seeing 'help wanted' signs in stores before, but he really didn't want to deal with a crowd of potential applicants. Just one, _maybe_ two people would do.

As another customer entered the store, Hiro decided he'd give it more thought later.

* * *

><p>Upstairs, Fred and Tadashi had started up the Wii, since it was the only game system that Tadashi could comfortably hold the controller for, and were currently trying to destroy each other in Super Smash Bros Brawl.<p>

Fred was making wild movements, claiming they made a real difference to the gameplay, while Tadashi was almost completely still, heavily focused on the game. Every now and then, Tadashi's fingers would slip up and Fred would get a good hit in, but Tadashi was still able to beat him like he always had in the end.

The victory screen came up, and Link celebrated as Bowser clapped in the background.

"Let's go again. I _know_ I can beat you with Pokémon Trainer!"

As it turned out, he couldn't.

Four rounds later, and Fred finally admitted defeat.

"I give up, Teddy. I **surrender**." Fred flopped back in the beanbag before getting up to change the disk.

"You just have a very predictable move set, if you varied it a little-"

"I'll just crush you in Mario Kart." Fred clearly wasn't up for taking advice.

"You can _try_."

It was more even at the end of that round of gaming; Fred was actually able to win the tiebreaker game for the victory.

"**_Yes!_** Sweet victory!"

Tadashi just laughed at Fred's reaction, unclipping the controller and putting it away.

"How does it feel to win against a five year old?"

"Don't spoil this for me, Teddy. You aren't _just_ a normal five year old; I can officially say I beat a **phoenix** at video games!" Fred did an impromptu victory dance that left Tadashi laughing.

When both guys had calmed down, Fred plopped back into his beanbag before turning to Tadashi.

"So, do you want to go see what Hiro's up to?"

Tadashi shook his head in response.

"He's probably busy, I don't want to bother him."

"He wouldn't be upset, dude. Trust me. But, you know, your choice."

Tadashi's message alert went off, -'Hey, listen!'-, and he opened it up, checking the text from Honey Lemon.

"What's up?"

"Honey sent some preliminary test results to my phone." Tadashi stood up and started pacing, absentmindedly running the hand that wasn't holding the phone along the back of his neck. "It's just basic stuff, but I can work with this!"

Tadashi stopped pacing and turned to Fred, looking like he was considering something.

"Would you like to be a test subject?"

*A.N. So, I found some really cool fan art for this story on tumblr, but I haven't received permission to share it yet. I've done a couple of things myself, but it is always super cool to see others create things for my story. If you've done something you want me to see, let me know! I want to see it!*


	15. What's the Worst That Could Happen?

Hiro made his way up the stairs after closing the café at the end of the day and found Fred laughing hysterically on the couch while Tadashi stood in the center of the room, pouting and wiping very clear tears out of his eyes. Hiro paused at the top of the stairs, sniffing the air.

"Do I smell onions?"

"...maybe." Tadashi was still wiping at his profusely watering eyes. "Apparently, irritating the eyes doesn't produce the right type of tears."

"Well, we know tickling wor-"

"Don't you dare." Tadashi glared up at Hiro, crossing his arms.

Hiro tried, he really did, but he couldn't stop the bubble of laughter from escaping him in response to Tadashi's petulant face.

_If he stomps his foot, so help me..._

When the laughing died down, Fred stood up and stretched, checking the time on his phone.

"Well, we can't test what we don't have, so guess I'll be headed out."

"You sure you don't want to stay for dinner?"

"Tempting, but my mom decided to institute a family dinner night. Heathcliff's making a feast!" Fred started towards the stairs, picking up his bag as he went. "I'd invite you guys, but family meals are sacred, or something like that."

"It's cool. Later, Fred!"

"Later, Hiro! Bye, Teddy!" Dispensing a quick hug to Hiro before picking Tadashi up and swinging him around in a small circle, before setting him down and dashing down the stairs. The front door closed behind him, leaving the two brothers alone in the café.  
>"I don't think I will ever get used to that." Tadashi held his head to stop the room's spinning, while Hiro just laughed.<p>

"I'm pretty sure it won't end any time soon. You're not exactly difficult to lift."

As if to demonstrate, Hiro picked him up and set him on one of the stools at the kitchen counter. With the constant presence of the group at each other's houses over the years, everyone (except for Fred) had invested in additional seating so that no one had to sit on the floor, or, as Fred once tried, on each other.

Hiro glanced at the cutting board on the counter with part of the onion in pieces, wondering if it was worth actually cooking something or if they should just grab some pastries from downstairs. Though, to be completely honest, the thought of the _smell_ of a pastry was enough to make Hiro slightly nauseous. Working around something all day most days of the week would be enough to make anyone sick of it. Even coffee had become a necessity rather than something he enjoyed.

It didn't help that he was starting to subconsciously associate the café's food with rude people. He had gotten multiple comments, even after Ms. Masuda had left, about closing the café. The comments themselves had ranged from worried to irritated, but no one had responded positively when he failed to provide a good enough reason (in their opinion) of closing early. It was understandable to be a bit upset, but _seriously?_

Tadashi took note of Hiro's silence, watching as his eyebrows drew together in thought as he stared vacantly at the cutting board on the counter.

"I'm pretty sure an onion isn't _that_ interesting."

When Hiro only responded with a small hum of acknowledgement, not so much as glancing at him, he knew something was up.

"What's wrong?"

Hiro pinched the bridge of his nose, as if he had a slight headache, before looking up with a wan smile. "Don't worry about it, it's not a big deal."

"I'm already worried, just tell me." Tadashi set his head down on his folded arms, looking up at Hiro as he waited for a proper response.

"It'll sort itself out eventually. It's just the craziness of dealing with the café on top of all this..." Hiro vaguely gestured, leaving Tadashi uncertain how to reply, so he fell back on his habitual reply.

"I'm sorr-"

Hiro cut him off.

"Don't. Don't even apologize. I much prefer this to what it was like before."

Tadashi clenched his teeth, giving a small hum in reply to prevent another apology from slipping out, since he considered that as his fault, too.

"So... what do you want for dinner?" Hiro opened the fridge and fished around, finding eggs, some celery, butter... and not much else. Hiro mentally added grocery shopping to the list of things he needed to get done that he had put off.

"Dunno."

"That's very helpful." Considering the dried foodstuffs in the pantry, Hiro decided to go with something easy. "Stir-fry it is, then."

Tadashi hopped down from his stool to dig some chicken out of the freezer, putting some in a bowl of water to thaw quickly. It took some creative maneuvering, but he managed to keep everything in the bowl and get it situated on the counter. Hopefully the chicken would be an appropriate temperature by the time Hiro needed to cut it up.

Hiro started boiling some water to cook the rice, and sliced the unused part of the onion and the recently washed celery into thin strips. When the rice was about half way done, Hiro took the meat from the bowl... only to find that it was still mostly frozen.

"And this is why we need a microwave upstairs."

While Hiro was checking the other piece of chicken, Tadashi got an idea. Since the issue was that the meat wasn't warm enough, maybe he could do something about it. He'd channeled heat before, if unintentionally. He winced as he remembered what he had done to Callaghan, and decided he needed more practice in order to possibly control it.

Leaning on the counter from his stool, he reached out a couple of fingers to the meat on the cutting board. Concentrating on tensing his arm and trying to imagine warming up, (and feeling slightly ridiculous while doing so), Tadashi lightly touched the piece of meat.

The effect was instantaneous: a loud '**_pop_**' filled the kitchen, similar to the sound of shattering ice, and Tadashi cried out in surprise, jerking backwards. Unfortunately, he had been balanced precariously on the stool, and the movement caused him to topple off of it. He landed with a thud on the hardwood floor.

"Ow!" The collision was more surprising than actually painful; he had landed on his back and rolled to his side, his head not even hitting the floor.

"Tadashi!" Hiro came around the side of the counter, crouching down to inspect the (nonexistent) damage, just as Baymax finished inflating from his crate. "You okay?"

"Mhmm." Tadashi nodded, more embarrassed than anything.

"You have fallen." Baymax displayed the pain chart on his front. "On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?"

"Maybe a 1." Tadashi stood up with a hand of assistance from Hiro. He hadn't hit the ground particularly hard; he'd be surprised if he were even bruised the next day. "No medical attention required."

Baymax immediately backed down.

"Wait. That's all you have to say to make him stop?"

"...yeah?"

"Are you _serious?_ I've had to shut him down _so. many. times."_

"The phrase I taught you is only for when the treatment is complete. Baymax was meant to stick around until the patient was completely cured, so I made something to stop him trying to treat a non-injury." Tadashi tilted his head, looking up at his brother. "Wasn't it obvious?"

"Well, _yeah_. Now that I know what it is." Hiro thought back to his first couple of interactions with Baymax, admitting that asking him to shrink _probably_ wasn't the best method to start out with.

"You had him for _five years_ and you never thought of that? Not once?"

"Hush."

"The food on the stove is reaching unsafe temperatures." Baymax interrupted the brothers and pointed into the kitchen.

"Ah! Crud!" Hiro pulled the rice off of the burner, scooping off the top portion into a bowl before checking the damage to the rest.

There was a firm layer stuck to the bottom and sides of the pot, but it didn't seem burnt. Scooping out what he could and putting it in a separate bowl, Hiro turned back to the meat and vegetables. It looked like this was going to be a two-course meal. Looking at the meat, Hiro noticed that the piece Tadashi had touched had a single charred dot about the width of a fingerprint with a circle of decreasing degrees of brownness expanding from it, until just the tips were still pink.

Hiro let out a low whistle as he quickly prepared the other (now mostly thawed) piece and put it in the skillet with some oil and the vegetables.

"Dang, you really let it have it."

"Sorry... I wasn't thinking. I'll eat what's edible of that piece." Tadashi reached out to take it, but his hand was batted away by Hiro, who began to separate the cooked part from the raw with a fresh knife.

"Nah. We'll split it... the cooked part anyway. Then I can say that I've eaten something cooked with your bare hands."

Tadashi laughed at that. "You're so weird."

"Look who's talking." Hiro passed him the bowl of rice that he had taken from the top of the pot. "Eat up, before it gets cold."

"With what? I mean, I understand your eating habits, but I'm not ready to just stick my face in-"

"If you'd give me half a second..." Hiro passed a fork over to Tadashi, who looked at it like it was an alien contraption before looked pointedly at the rice and then at Hiro.

"This is an atrocity."

"Just eat your food."

Tadashi did, but as soon as Hiro's attention was back on the contents of the stove, he turned to Baymax, gesturing at Hiro as if saying: 'See what I have to deal with?' If he was expecting some sort of expression of solidarity, he was to be disappointed. Baymax simply blinked before walking over to Hiro and warning him of the danger of cooking meat that wasn't completely thawed.

Tadashi sighed. It wasn't quite what he had meant, but it was a good point. The chicken could pop and scald Hiro with the released grease.

Tadashi let his mind wander until Hiro placed the plate of soy-sauce drenched meat and vegetables on the counter in front of him. As he pulled some into the bowl, he noticed Hiro make the face that indicated that he was going to say something that he thought Tadashi probably wouldn't like.

"So, with the way things have been lately, I was thinking of bringing in some help to run the café."

Tadashi looked up at Hiro, surprised. Sure, Hiro had complained about the difficulties of managing the café, but Hiro was someone who _rarely_ asked for help, especially from someone he didn't know. There'd never been someone outside of their close friends and family working at the café. It was part of their _home_.

Hiro continued hurriedly, even though Tadashi hadn't yet shown signs of disapproval. "It'd be useful to have someone to watch the shop if I need to leave, or even just _want_ to leave sometime. I can't always have Wasabi cover for me, either. I still don't know how he's managing doctorate level courses and still being around whenever I need him. I guess that's just Wasabi, though. Um, anyway, I thought I should get your opinion before I started looking."

Tadashi didn't answer right away; he rarely did if it was something important. Finally shrugging, he turned again to Hiro.

"It makes sense, we'd just have to be careful, what with the café being connected to the house so openly."

Hiro relaxed. He probably would have hired someone anyway, but it was good to have Tadashi on his side.

"We'll be fine. Seriously, what's the worst that could happen?"

* * *

><p>The next day, Honey Lemon and Fred stopped by and hung out upstairs with Tadashi and Baymax. Stuck working downstairs in the café, Hiro dreaded to think what they were getting up to. Luckily, he was kept busy enough that he didn't have the time to dwell on it.<p>

Hiro didn't remember Tuesdays being this busy, but he guessed that he was probably just feeling the effects of not having someone to hang out with while working.

Wasabi's absence was mainly due to the need to get a handle on his assignments again, after letting them slip slightly at Tadashi's reappearance. Of course, Wasabi's 'slacking' was usually much more effort than most people put into their schoolwork, so his grades hadn't even been affected. Still, it was the principle of the thing.

Hiro was filling orders for the heavy lunch crowd when a familiar shock of red hair caught his attention as he returned to the counter.

"Oi, Kyouji!" The redhead startled a bit, before finally approaching the counter, grinning slightly as he pushed his hair out of his face. Hiro noticed the bandages under his sleeve, guessing he had gotten medical care on his own. "I suppose I got your name right, I wasn't totally sure. How's your arm?"

"It's fine. Like I said, it was just a scrape."

"I'm glad. I can tell Wasabi that you didn't retreat to a corner and die. He was freaking out after you left."

Kyouji chuckled at that.

"That seems to be a specialty of his."

A machine behind Hiro dinged, and Hiro paired the drink with a certain bag before calling out for order number 48, before quickly resetting the machine for the next order.

"Where is he, anyway? It's packed in here."

It took Hiro a second to realize Kyouji was still talking about Wasabi.

"Oh," Hiro checked his watch. "He's probably in class at this point. He only helps out when he can."

Kyouji moved out of the way of the brunette who came to collect his meal. On his way out, he brushed by Kyouji a little harshly, jarring his injured arm. Kyouji spared him a slight glare, ignoring him for the most part, but Hiro was bothered by the occurrence.

"Hey!" But Hiro went ignored. "I can't believe him."

"It's fine." Kyouji just shrugged, lightly holding his arm. "It's not like he could have known."

"Still. Ugh, It's people like that that make me want to dump their coffee on them. _Accidentally_, of course." Hiro popped the top onto another drink, setting it aside as part of a larger order.

"How are you still in business, again?"

"Hey, I said _want to. _I wouldn't _actually_. This place means too much to my aunt to let something happen to it because I couldn't keep my temper."

"Just so long as I don't have to worry about coffee induced burns."

Hiro laughed. "Nah, you're safe. Well... as safe as you can be around here. My friends can be a bit crazy."

"I gathered as much." Kyouji indicated slightly with his injured arm, prompting another chuckle on Hiro's part. He pointed behind Hiro, a slightly worried look on his face. "Speaking of crazy, I think your machine's lost it."

"_What?_" Hiro turned and _of course_ the devil machine would act up when it was most busy.

The area behind the counter wasn't easily accessible, so Kyouji just passed a stack of napkins over to Hiro as he tried to contain the mess of boiling liquid without scalding himself.

"Could you change the output to water? At least then the mess won't be as bad."

"Um, maybe?" Hiro hit the hot water button, and the machine began running clear, and then responded appropriately when he hit the 'off' button for the fifth time since the mess started. "Oh my gosh, that worked."

Hiro sighed at the pile of damp napkins, tossing them into the trash under the counter. When one of the other machines opened up, he entered the destroyed order, hoping that none of his good machines would decide to go berserk anytime soon. Passing a completed order to a slightly annoyed teen, who had noticed when her order had been finished, Hiro leaned against the counter, feeling a stress headache coming on.

"This is insane." Hiro checked his watch again, estimating how long it would be until Wasabi could possibly arrive, though that wasn't really fair to him. "This was _not_ meant to be a one-person job. I don't know how my aunt did it."

Kyouji made a small noise in agreement.

Hiro called up another order, before again turning to Kyouji. "I'm actually looking to hire someone; I've reached the limit of what I can do on my own. I'd post a sign or something, but..." Hiro shrugged. "I don't want to deal with a bunch of people at once, or with a bunch of high school kids looking for an easy job."

Nodding in agreement, Kyouji shifted his weight to his other leg and crossed his arms before speaking. "So, what would it take to get hired?"

"Wait, you're interested?" Hiro looked slightly surprised, but quickly recovered when Kyouji nodded again. "Oh, um..." Hiro wracked his brain for what employers usually asked for. "I guess just some I.D. and proof that you're not some mass murderer or something."

Kyouji laughed along with Hiro. "Sure, I can do that."

"Cool." Hiro paused before face palming. "Wow, I'm terrible. I haven't even asked what you wanted to order. Here I am, talking your ear off..." Hiro laughed slightly. "What can I get you?"

Kyouji ordered a sandwich and some water, and promised to stop by around closing time to sort things out. When he had left, Hiro let out a sigh of relief. If he'd known it'd be that easy, he wouldn't have worried so much.

* * *

><p>Around 3:00, Honey Lemon, Tadashi, and Fred finally came down the stairs for a late lunch. The only customers in the café had already been served and had paid, so Hiro grabbed a sandwich for himself and joined the small group at a table from which he could still keep an eye on the door. Wasabi's class let out at 2:50, so he'd probably arrive soon if Hiro needed someone to cover for him.<p>

When Hiro sat at the table, he noticed something odd.

"Uh, why are Fred's finger's wrapped in bandages?"

"Because Teddy doesn't care about me!"

"I tried! You kept making me laugh!"

"You see? He admits to laughing at my pain."

"Cracking sleeping beauty jokes really wasn't a good method for getting yourself healed." Honey Lemon passed her phone over to Hiro, and he saw a picture of Fred dramatically posing with his pricked finger, while Tadashi was clearly trying to hold in his laughter.

"Honey! You're supposed to be on _my_ side!"

Tadashi spoke up again, desperately trying to clear his name. "It's just a pinprick, it's probably already closed on its own, anyway. The bandages were completely unnecessary. Even Baymax said so."

Fred let out a loud sigh, mock cradling his 'injured' hand. "I guess I'll just have to wait to get superpowers."

"Fred. I already told you the tears aren't likely to do anything other than heal you." Tadashi had clearly had this conversation with him multiple times throughout the day.

"Nope. I'm getting powers. Just watch."

Hiro laughed. "It sounds like you guys had quite the day."

"Mhmm." Tadashi reached for his glass, trying to pick it up with one hand out of habit, but it slipped from his grip. It landed back on the table and Tadashi rushed to steady it with both his hands, but a little was spilt. "Oops."

Hiro passed him a napkin, and he started to clean up the spill.

"Do I need to get you a lid?"

"_No._" Tadashi glared at his brother, embarrassed by the idea.

"Just asking. Maybe I could grab you a smaller cup."

"It's _fine_, Hiro. It just slipped. I can do _this_." Tadashi then picked up the cup with both hands and easily took a sip.

"Okay, okay." Hiro lifted his hands slightly in surrender. "Changing the subject, I think I found someone to help out at the café."

Tadashi abruptly turned his head to his brother. "Already?"

"I didn't know you were looking to hire someone." Honey Lemon looked confused, like she was trying to recall a conversation it would have come up in.

"I only just talked to Tadas-**Teddy** about it last night."

"Oh, okay." Honey's smile returned, lighting up her features again. "So, who is it?"

"You remember Kyouji, right?"

"The guy Wasabi hit with his van?" Fred hadn't actually had the chance to meet him yet, but it looked like he would soon.

"Oh, you spoke with him? Is he okay?" Honey Lemon's eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"Yeah, he's fine. His arm was wrapped pretty well, and he moved easily enough."

"That's good." Honey Lemon smiled again. "So you're hiring him?"

"Most likely, he's just got to bring me some papers and I can show him how to run the machines, though he seemed to know what to do when the devil machine acted up."

"Again?"

"Yeah..." Hiro detailed the important parts of the day, mentioning everything from the machine to his own lack of customer service in reference to taking Kyouji's order. When he mentioned the guy who shoved past Kyouji, Honey Lemon reacted angrily.

"That jerk!"

"I know, right? And he didn't even turn when I called after him. I can't believe people like him exist."

"I can't wait to meet him!" After receiving some strange looks, Fred realized his mistake. "Kyouji, not the other dude."

"Yeah, just try not to scare him off."

"Won't he need to deal with people on the job? If he can deal with Fred, he can deal with anybody."

Tadashi made a valid point, causing Hiro to laugh while picturing his reaction to Fred's antics.

"That laugh worries me!" Wasabi had just walked through the front door, but paused upon hearing Hiro's cackle.

"Don't worry, you're safe."

"Somehow, that really doesn't make me feel any better."

Hiro just grinned, settling back into his chair as Honey Lemon started talking further about their work upstairs.

**A.N. So, I'm posting this a little later than I normally would, but I wanted to get it right. The last chapter was a little lazy, but school's been catching up to me. *Shrugs* I can't wait to start writing more about Kyouji :).**


	16. Tears, Fujitas, and a Little Black Box

**A.N. So, was anyone else super worried when refused to let them log in yesterday?**

Kyouji was halfway back to his father's house when his cell phone started to ring, the tinny jingle feeding his desire to chuck the stupid thing across the street. At present, he strongly disliked the notion of speaking to either of the two people who could call him.

Checking the caller ID, Kyouji relented and brought the phone to his ear.

"Care to explain yourself, Himitsu?" The little stunt at the café had not only reawakened the persistent ache in his side and arm, but had also seemed completely pointless.

Light laughter was heard on the other side of the phone. "You're gonna have to be more specific than _that_."

"I'm pretty sure you know _exactly_ what I'm talking about." Kyouji waited as Himitsu remained silent, and was about to hang up when he began to speak.

"I thought ya were better at this. D'you check your pockets?"

"Check my-?" Oh. Reaching down into his left pocket, ignoring the twinge in his arm, he pulled out a small black box that easily fit within his palm. On one side was an embedded switch and a small black circle Kyouji bet would light up if activated. "What, are we playing spies now?"

"Already bashing it, and ya don't even know what it is..."

Kyouji rolled his eyes, before looking both ways as he crossed 4th Street; he was not going to be hit _again_. "Let me guess, I flip the switch and something blows up."

"Hehe, no. Strike one."

"Himitsu, I'm not playing games with you. Why couldn't you just give... whatever it is, to me in person?"

"I _did_ give-"

"That is _not_ what I meant, and you know it." Kyouji was feeling particularly irritable, and if he let Himitsu take the conversation where he would, he might never get the answers he wanted. Turning the small box over in his hands, looking for any other distinguishing marks, Kyouji waited for Himitsu's laughter to stop.

"It's more fun my way. Besides, maybe I got ya some pity points from your new boss."

Kyouji felt his irritation flare again, but mentally tamped it down. There was no reason to make the situation into something it wasn't, just because he was grumpy. "I _thought_ you didn't want anything to do with this... and you still haven't told me what it does."

"-take all the fun outta... fine. Y'know how I was saying a signal isn't that hard to set up? It isn't. Flip the switch and a couple of Fujitas will provide you with a quick getaway... if you get that far."

"I thought you didn't give anything for free?"

"I don't." Himitsu chuckled. "I'm just the messenger and creator. Yama commissioned it. He must really want this to go well if he's offering the assistance of the Fujitas."

Kyouji felt worry begin to gnaw at his stomach.

_Yama doesn't __**have**__ direct control on the Fujitas. _

He might have at one point, but he lost that privilege when he got captured. The deadly and efficient group of women only answered to Yama's older brother now...

_Which means that this job just got a__** lot**__ more demanding. _

"Yeah... guess so."

"Also, the two wanna meet you before the job. Ya know, to make sure you know it's them and they know it's you. Wouldn't want a mix up on something like this."

Kyouji felt like ice had been shot into his lungs. Those women were certifiably crazy. As in, if you weren't completely necessary for what they needed, your life amounted to less than an insect's, and was completely dependent on their whim.

Himitsu continued, oblivious to Kyouji's distress. "So, I wasn't sure how to set up a meeting for ya, so I just gave them your number."

_No. No-no-no-no-no-no. _Kyouji choked on air for a moment.

"You did _what_?"

"D'you need your hearing checked?" Himitsu laughed at his own joke.

_This isn't funny!_

"Anyway, I gotta go. Keep your phone on you!"

With that, Himitsu hung up, leaving Kyouji to stand with his phone still held to his ear for a couple of seconds. He felt panic creeping on the edge of his mind, but forcefully pushed it back. There was nothing he could do about it at that time, and he had other things that took precedence.

Shoving his phone back in his pocket, Kyouji picked up his pace. He fervently hoped they wouldn't call anytime soon.

Having made his way from the crowded streets of downtown to the less frequented neighborhoods, Kyouji quietly walked around the side of a rundown house and tried the latch on the back gate. Thankfully, it was still unlocked; Kyouji didn't want to deal with the hassle and pain of scaling it, and the front door was_ not_ an option.

After picking his way through the tiny, gravel-covered excuse of a backyard, Kyouji ran his fake driver's license along the bottom of his window, forcing the latch up. Easing his fingers under the edge of the pane, he opened the window as quietly as he could and climbed into his room. Slipping the card back in his pocket, he carefully lowered the glass back to its original position so that it would not fall shut.

He listened for sounds of movement in the house before determining that a confrontation was unlikely, and he allowed himself to relax. He hadn't exactly brought any funds in recently to pay the rent his father had imposed upon him when he turned eighteen. If this job went well, he'd be able to walk through the front door like a normal human, or even find a small place of his own.

Kyouji scoffed at this train of thought.

_Yeah, keep dreaming._

Walking over to the dresser, he reached out and slid open the top drawer. It was mostly empty, except for the packet he had recently received and a small book of fairytales with a faded picture peeking out of the edges of the pages. Taking the packet, he pushed the drawer shut again, deciding that lingering to reminisce was not a choice he should make at the time.

Besides, he was too old to look at a picture of his mom and wonder what she was like; that was for children. He should probably just get rid of it, like his father had tried to do, years earlier. It wouldn't do him any good, anyway.

Packet in hand, he made his way out the window, letting the latch fall closed behind him. There were still a couple of hours before he needed to go to the café, so he debated the merits of his usual hangouts, finally deciding on the least frequented of them to hole up in until it was time to leave.

* * *

><p>Hiro glanced up at the clock, noticing that it was nearing closing time; Kyouji would be back soon. Tadashi, Fred, and Honey Lemon had gone back upstairs, but had promised to return when Hiro texted them to announce Kyouji's arrival.<p>

Tadashi had been very adamant to continue attempting to test his abilities, and Hiro had to wonder what he was planning. He seemed to be having issues actually forming the tears, and the sample that Honey Lemon had taken earlier was contaminated with what she had used to test its chemical composition.

The café finally emptied out as the two remaining customers paid and left; the door's bells jingled at their exit. Taking out a rag and wiping down the table they had vacated, Hiro let himself imagine what methods the people upstairs were using to make Tadashi cry.

"I can hear you thinking from over here." Wasabi had busied himself with the dishes in the back room, and was now standing behind the counter. He had decided to hang around until Kyouji showed up, if only to apologize to him.

"I'm just wondering what they're getting up to up there. I haven't heard any screaming, so I guess they must be okay."

"_That's_ your standard for well-being?"

"Yup." Hiro tossed the rag into the sink and pulled out his phone. He might as well have them come down already, even if Kyouji hadn't yet shown up.

As soon as Hiro had put away his phone, message sent, the café door opened and Kyouji let himself inside. Hiro grinned; his timing was perfect.

"Welcome back!"

Kyouji looked a little surprised at the greeting, but he quickly recovered, smiling and approaching the counter with a packet in one hand. Hiro accepted the packet from him, looking it over, while Wasabi began to speak.

"Hey, I realized I never actually apologized to you for hitting you with my van. Terrible oversight, I know. So, I'm actually really sorry about that."

"Oh, uh... it's okay. I didn't actually notice you hadn't apologized. Your actions spoke for you." Kyouji pulled on the edges of his sleeve, tugging it further over the bandage.

Wasabi shrugged. "Still, it needed to be said, and—"

Whatever Wasabi was going to say was lost as Fred came bursting through the door of the back room. Turning the corner of the counter sharply, he came to a stop a short distance from Kyouji... or tried to anyway.

Fred did actually manage to avoid knocking him over when he lost his balance, but he grabbed Kyouji's arm in the process. Luckily, it was the uninjured one, but Kyouji flinched anyway, before a look of exasperated amusement came over his face.

"...and then there were four." Kyouji was apparently keeping track of the team members who had run into him. Hiro stifled a laugh as he skimmed through the papers; it seemed that the only innocent ones left were Baymax, Gogo, and himself.

"My bad, dude. You're Kyouji, right? I've heard so much about you! Well, only what the others said, but you survived being hit full on by a car! Dude! That's so cool! Did you do a flip? Do you have super strength? Maybe a healing factor?"

"...What?"

Hiro looked on in amusement, comparing the scene mentally with a puppy meeting an owl, since Fred was practically jumping around as per the norm, and Kyouji was standing there somewhat shell-shocked, looking to Wasabi for either assistance or clarification.

"Don't worry about it, he does this with everyone."

"Not _everyone_."

At this moment, Honey Lemon and Tadashi finally made their way through the door.

"Fred, are you terrorizing him already?" Honey Lemon sounded almost reproachful, causing Fred to take a step back, out of Kyouji's personal space, who visibly relaxed. She turned to Kyouji with a smile.

"I'm glad to see that you're alright. Hiro had said so, but he's been known to overlook things."

Hiro looked up, slightly affronted. "I resent that comment!"

Honey Lemon giggled. "Anyway, it's good to see you again, but I do need to get going. See you around." Waving, she made her way to the door.

"See you."

Hiro noticed Tadashi hanging back, and indicated with his head to talk to Kyouji. Tadashi twisted his fingers together and approached him.

"Hello."

Kyouji looked down at him, pausing momentarily before addressing him. "Hey, you're... um... it begins with a 'T'..."

Before he could continue, Fred interrupted him. "It's okay, he has a new name now. You have to call him 'Teddy.' It's practically the law."

Tadashi sighed, crossing his arms around his middle.

Kyouji just laughed softly. "Yeah, okay, sure. I can remember that."

Hiro had finished looking through the papers and was satisfied. He quickly filed them away, not knowing when he might need them. Gesturing to Kyouji, he led him to the separate machines, explaining each of their functions.

"You don't have to pick up everything at once, since one of the two of us," Hiro indicated to himself and Wasabi, "is going to be with you at first, but there may come days where I have to leave you here on your own, so you need to know how to run everything."

Kyouji simply nodded as Hiro began to explain the different settings on the coffee machine that was most likely to work well.

* * *

><p>Tadashi watched his brother as he showed Kyouji around and explained various aspects of the job, with interjections from Fred or Wasabi every now and then.<p>

Thinking back to the first time he had run into Kyouji, he tried to remember what had made him seem... off. However, try as he might, Tadashi couldn't figure out what had made him wary in the first place, and he wasn't being fair to Kyouji by continuing to treat him a certain way based on a split-second judgment.

Besides, he had more pressing matters on his mind than his brother's employment choices. Try as he might, he couldn't get his eyes to do more than water, and if he couldn't get some tears he couldn't test them. If he couldn't test them... then he wouldn't find out if he could _use_ them. If he could... maybe...

He felt like he was brimming with frustration, and he just needed something to push him over the edge, and he would have what he needed.

_But..._ He looked back over to Kyouji. _Would it even be __**okay**__ to start crying now? _Fred's antics were bad enough; it wouldn't do to add more freakiness to the mix.

Tadashi found a seat and laid his head on his arms to more comfortably view the on goings of the café, and didn't move until Hiro had said goodbye to the other three and had shown them out the door.

As Hiro was locking the door, Tadashi walked over and lifted his arms in the universal sign for 'up.' It was comforting to have someone carry him, when he was willing, and he figured he should take advantage of it while he still could.

Hiro looked slightly surprised, but complied, easily lifting Tadashi into his arms before making his way up the stairs. Tadashi curled slightly, resting his head on his brother's shoulder. Purposefully being on the verge of tears all day was exhausting.

Hiro dropped him off on the couch in the living room, claiming that it was too early to go to sleep yet.

"So, what's up? How are the 'tests' coming along?"

Tadashi scrunched up his face, bringing his knees up to rest his chin on them.

"Terribly. Every time I think I'm close to crying, Fred will say something, or my mind will try and negate what I was thinking to cause it, and the tears won't come."

"Hey, don't worry. There's no rush."

Tadashi looked up at Hiro, sharply, adopting an expression that was almost a glare. "How can you _say_ that?"

Hiro's brow lowered in confusion. "What d-?"

"What do you **mean** there's no rush? Of _course_ there's a rush! I have to know how this works, or I can't- I might..." Tadashi bit his lower lip and started to tremble.

Hiro was torn between comforting his brother and just letting him ride out the emotions in order to get the tears that were causing the issue in the first place. Grimacing slightly, he reached for a vial, uncapping it and passing it to Tadashi, who merely took it and rolled it between his hands. He was upset, but he wasn't crying... not yet.

"I-I just... I don't want to make it _worse_."

"Make what worse?" Hiro was a genius, but there were different types of intelligence, and whatever Tadashi was referring to, he was at a loss.

"**_Aunt Cass,_** you **bonehead**!" Tadashi's voice broke on the last syllable, and tears were in his eyes. "It's just... with my tears, I might be able to _help_ her. I could _fix_ her. But I _can't get it wrong!_ I don't even know if it _can_ help someone in a coma! What if her body _rejects it? _I might **_hurt_** her!"

Tadashi had reached the tipping point, and was crying in earnest, catching the orange tears as they fell as best he could through his sobs.

Hiro felt sick at the sight.

Moving over to sit next to him, Hiro gently took the vial from his hands and capped it, setting it aside before he gathered Tadashi into his arms and began to run his fingers through his hair in a soothing gesture. This misery was unnecessary; he'd already proven he could get the tears through laughter. There was no reason to let Tadashi continue like this.

"It's going to be okay. I promise. We'll figure something out."

Hiro sat there holding him until he finally cried himself to sleep.

**A.N. For those who aren't aware, the Fujitas were a scrapped character design for BH6, and their function was basically what was detailed here (though a bit more kid friendly).**


	17. Is It Possible?

**A.N.: This is so laaaate. Thankfully, sayagirl24 was able to help me out when I was overrun with work, otherwise, this chapter wouldn't be done at this point, so a big thank-you to her.**

"'Dashi. 'Dashi, wake up." Hiro gently shook the shoulder of the sleeping child, trying to be nice after the stress of the previous evening.

"mm... no." Still half asleep, Tadashi buried his face in the pillow, pulling the covers up to his ears in an attempt to return to sleep.

"I've gotta open the shop, so I won't be back to wake you later. Come on." Hiro tried to hide the grin threatening to take over his face. He almost hoped Tadashi wouldn't get up on his own, so he could give him a taste of his own 'big brother' medicine. However, to be fair, he had to give him a chance.

Tadashi simply grumbled, "Make what's-his-face do it."

As the small form continued to show no signs of getting out of bed, Hiro set his hand on top of the covers.

"Alright, don't say I didn't try."

Abruptly yanking back the covers, Hiro scooped Tadashi up and tossed him into the air, catching him a bit closer to the ground than he had intended.

Tadashi shrieked, taking a vice grip on Hiro's arms and glaring up at his traitor brother. "Hiro!"

Wincing slightly, Hiro laughed. "You always made that seem so easy. Glad I caught you."

"I never _actually let go of you!_"

Hiro's face clearly indicated that he disagreed. Placing Tadashi back on the bed, he began to walk towards the stairs. "Well, now that you're up, Teddy, you may as well get ready. Didn't you want to do some more testing today, or something?"

Tadashi didn't reply as Hiro left the room, opting instead to try and take steady breaths to calm his racing heart after the panic-inducing wake up call. Falling was not a fun feeling.

Scrubbing at his face, he felt the dried remains of tear-tracks on his cheeks, reminders of the problems of the day before. Tadashi glanced over at the desk next to his bed, noticing the capped vial nearly filled with tears. Opening a drawer beneath the desk, Tadashi pulled out two other vials, before climbing up in his chair.

With the utmost care, Tadashi distributed the liquid evenly between the three vials, using the desk to hold them steady as he poured. When the task was finished, he placed all three along a test-tube rack. Resting his head on his folded arms, he watching the orange liquid swirl as it settled, and let his mind wander.

If they worked the way he hoped they would, the tears could help so many people, but like any unknown substance, the margin for error could be deadly. Tadashi felt his gut clench when his mind provided mental pictures of what _could _happen: blood rushing to expel the unknown compound... a patient going into anaphylactic shock... the orange fluid acting like a toxin and racing through the bloodstream...

Resisting the irrational urge to knock the vials off the table, Tadashi dug his chin into his arm, using the slight pain to derail that train of thought. He'd just be really careful. Besides, he had nearly infinite test samples, so long as he could actually produce the tears. Their acquisition was awkward, though.

Pushing back from the desk, Tadashi began to change into everyday clothes without paying much attention, as his mind was still preoccupied. It was strange to cry with an end in mind, and the action felt... insincere. Even though the emotions leading up crying were his actual feelings, the collection of the tears made it seem like what he was feeling was less important than what he needed the tears for.

And in a way, this was true. Crying had been a rare thing for Tadashi before the fire, and even after, he had become used to suppressing it or distracting himself. Now that the tears were useful, crying was demanded, and was even considered cheap. In addition, he could probably never freely cry again without feeling like he was wasting his tears if he didn't collect them.

Tadashi found himself selfishly wishing that the tears wouldn't have any effect on other people, if only to take that burden from him. Shaking his head, he banished the thought. It was better to help other people and suffer a little, than to keep something like this to himself.

'Besides,' Tadashi thought as he pulled on a clean shirt and jacket, 'Hiro was right when he said there were other ways to collect the tears.' He just had to find them. Tickling worked well and all, but he'd prefer to not feel like his lungs were constricting and sides were aching all of the time. There was a limit.

Fully dressed, Tadashi made his way down the stairs to the living area just above the café. He hadn't bothered to pull on shoes; it was his house, after all. Glancing over at Baymax's crate, he felt bad that he hadn't made much time for his creation, if only to figure out what all Hiro had changed about him. There simply hadn't been much need for him.

Baymax was meant to be a _healthcare_ companion, not a friend, and at the end of the day was to go back into the box until he was needed again. Tadashi hadn't even planned on him staying in a home, aside from the possibility of assisted living. Baymax belonged in a hospital or a pediatrician's office, not the corner of a house to act as an every-now-and-then-first-aid-kit.

Making up his mind to talk to Hiro about it later, Tadashi continued on his way to the café, and spotted Gogo chatting with Hiro over the counter. It was still a good thirty minutes before the café was supposed to open, and Tadashi hadn't even heard her arrive.

Shrugging slightly, he began to look over the options for breakfast, since it would take far too much effort to climb onto the kitchen counter upstairs to reach the cupboard... if Hiro even kept any breakfast food there anymore. Seeing only cherry and strawberry tarts, Tadashi pouted slightly before he noticed Hiro pulling the blueberry variety from the oven.

As soon as Hiro set the pan down, Tadashi used a stool to climb up to the counter and grab one of the pastries off of it.

"Careful! That's still hot!" Hiro reached towards Tadashi before aborting the movement, noticing that Tadashi didn't even seem affected.

The five year old just blinked before looking between the tart in his hand and Hiro. "No, it's not. It's a bit mushy, though." He took a large bite, savoring the sweet taste of blueberries.

Hiro rolled his eyes in exasperation. "It's mushy because it's still hot. I _just_ took that from the oven. You _watched_ me do it."

"Oh." Tadashi shrugged before taking another bite. "I thought you'd just left them in there a while to conserve counter space while they cooled."

Hiro looked on, dumbstruck, as Tadashi finished the tart, which by all means should have destroyed the inside of his mouth, before reaching for another.

"Unbelievable."

Gogo simply smiled before reaching over and ruffling Tadashi's hair, drawing noises of protest. The cut was slightly longer than Tadashi used to keep it, and left to its own devices, it could grow to become as unruly as Hiro's had been. It would need to be trimmed soon.

"Good morning to you too, Teddy." Gogo had caught onto the nickname quickly, finding amusement in the small pout or glare she would receive upon using it.

Tadashi realized with a jolt that he hadn't greeted her. "Morning, Gogo." Turning fully in his seat to face her, he quickly finished the second tart, deciding that it was enough for now. "What are you doing here so early?"

"Yeah, Gogo. I thought you had that project to finish?"

Gogo raised an eyebrow at Hiro, who turned back towards the kitchen supplies while making the gesture of zipping his lips. Gogo's wrath, when fully actualized, was quite terrifying. Tadashi simply looked on without any idea what was happening.

"I just thought I'd stop by for a quick breakfast and to see how things were going."

Tadashi was immediately suspicious. Gogo didn't just 'stop by.' It wasn't how she operated. Gogo was very task oriented, with few exceptions. She had to be invited to something or have her own specific reason for attending.

She requested coffee and a bagel from Hiro, who muttered something about not even being open yet, before continuing to fill her order. After receiving her food, Gogo stood up, placing the bag on one of the tables.

"Hey before I go, can you do me a favor?"

Yup, he knew it. Tadashi looked up warily, never one to agree on a favor for Gogo immediately. Last time he'd agreed to something, he ended up with more than a few bumps and bruises.

"I don't think..."

"Oh, it won't be like last time, just stand up."

Tadashi slowly eased off the stool and stood in front of her, flinching slightly when she abruptly took out a measuring tape. She extended it with practiced ease, putting it behind him from head to foot and then across his back.

"Done, thanks." She ruffled his hair again before grabbing her food and leaving quickly, ignoring the questioning look Tadashi sent her.

After a moment, he shrugged his shoulders before sitting back down and grabbing another pastry. He was hungry again.

"So, where's your new employee?" Tadashi looked up at Hiro, gesturing to the otherwise empty café.

"I asked him to come in a little later, before the lunch rush. Wednesday mornings are slow, and there's no reason to ask him to be here earlier than most people wake up if there won't be anything for him to do. I'm going to pay him by the day instead of hours, since the café's weird about business, anyway."

"Hmm, okay." Tadashi wasn't that concerned about it, since Hiro seemed to know what he was doing.

As the first couple of customers trickled through, Tadashi amused himself by seeing how many saltshakers he could stack one on top of another. He had gotten ten, and was struggling to reach the top to place another one when Fred burst through the door, startling him and causing him to knock over the tower. Luckily they were plastic, but salt got everywhere. Hiro sighed, realizing that he would likely be the one to have to clean it up, and went to grab a broom and pan.

"Hey, Teddy! You ready do some more testing?" Fred was practically bouncing in place, making a backpack rattle on his back. "I brought a few things." He turned his shoulder, letting the bag fall down onto a table. He was about to open it when Hiro came back, wielding a broom.

"Not in the cafe, Fred." Hiro pointed towards the back door with the broom handle before starting to sweep up the mess.

Fred pouted before nudging Tadashi towards the stairs. Tadashi grabbed two of the vials from upstairs before they trudged down to the garage. Fred opened the bag to show various kits for testing with different blood types. As he set them all out, Tadashi uncapped one of the vials, setting the other aside for later. They had enough in the single vial to test with each kit and even had a little extra.

"We can give the rest of this to Honey Lemon for other tests." Tadashi stated, passing the nearly empty vial to Fred, who slipped it into his pocket. "Where is she, anyway? I thought she was coming by today?"

Fred looked up at him, slightly surprised. "Huh, I thought she would have texted you, too. She's caught up at work." Fred pulled at the chapped skin of his lips with his teeth; the November wind wasn't very kind to him. "Wasabi's in class, and I have no idea what Gogo's up to."

"Oh, I guess I didn't check my phone." Tadashi usually silenced it if he didn't want any distractions, but sometimes he missed things. "Gogo actually stopped by this morning, you just missed her."

"What? She didn't even wait for me." Fred scrunched his face and placed a hand over his heart in mock offense, before laughing along with Tadashi.

The two got to work, using each kit with different amounts of tears being placed alongside the chemicals that would react like the blood types would. Once they got their results, they headed back to the café after Tadashi grabbed his phone from upstairs, and were pleased to see that business was still slow.

Hiro sat down with Fred and Tadashi, setting out sandwiches for an early lunch.

"So what all have you figured out?" Hiro asked, munching on a sandwich, before turning to Fred. "And stop pulling on your lip, you've already made it bleed, and you're just going to make it worse."

Fred stopped his actions, sticking his tongue out briefly at Hiro, drawing a laugh from Tadashi.

"Okay, as far as we know, the tears don't harm other people. No weird reactions from the different blood types." Fred proudly stated.

"That's good." Hiro looked over at Tadashi, trying to assess his response.

"Now we just have to prove it." Fred smiled widely, letting them know he was about to do something crazy or stupid... likely both. He whipped the nearly empty vial out of his pocket, making Tadashi jump up.

"_Don't!_ Fred, you need to wait for Honey Lemon!"

Tadashi tried to reach for it, but his small stature prevented him from succeeding. Hiro got up out of his chair, stepping closer to Fred.

"Fred, what are you doing?"

"No worries." He smiled before opening the vial and downing it, wiping his lips when he'd finished.

Tadashi let out a little squeak, reaching up and grabbing onto Fred's shirt.  
>"<em>Why'd you do that<em>? We don't know if that could hurt you and-" He was cut off by Fred putting his hand up.

"Teddy," Fred said quietly before his grin grew wider and he raised his voice, "I feel **GREAT**!"

To prove his point, he jumped up onto the table, shouting, "**Victory!**" The few customers in the store stared in bewilderment.

"Fred!" Hiro hissed in admonishment, pulling him down. "You idiot. That was not a good idea."

He continued to grumble at him as he pulled him away from view, into the back storage room. Tadashi and Hiro started lecturing Fred when a voice behind them broke their conversation.

"Is this a bad time?"

"Oh, hey, Kyouji." Hiro turned around, leading him back towards the counter. "Sorry, slight problem. Anyway, the rush should be here soon, so let's get to work."

* * *

><p>Back in the pantry, Tadashi was frantically asking Fred hundreds of questions.<p>

"Are you experiencing chills? Dry mouth? Do you feel nauseas? Are you dizzy? Lightheaded?" He pulled Fred's hand towards him to check if he had broken out in hives.

"Teddy, I told you, I've never felt better. This morning I woke up with a killer headache but right after I drank that stuff, poof, headache gone." Fred ran his tongue over his previously chapped lips. "Even my lips are better. They aren't bleeding anymore."

He gently pulled his hand from Tadashi's grasp and put it on Tadashi's shoulder, leaning down to eye level. "Really, I'm okay."

"Then it works." Tadashi stared in shock for a moment before a wide smile spread across his face. "It really works! I-I can help Aunt Cass. I can- oh, this is amazing!" Tadashi's hands clenched as he brought them up in excitement.

Fred's eyes slightly widened in shock; he hadn't known what Tadashi specifically wanted to do this for, though the explanation made sense. He smiled as well. "Yeah, you can."

"I mean, I'll have to double check things, but this- this could work!" Tadashi started pacing, picking up speed as he walked back and forth. "Oh, I wish Honey Lemon was here, then we could just-"

"Haha, slow down, Teddy." Fred reached out to still him. "You're making me dizzy."

Tadashi rubbed the back of his neck, laughing softly. "Yeah, okay. Sorry."

When the two of them went back upstairs, Fred spotted his discarded backpack.

"Oh! I almost forgot."

Fred reached into the bag and pulled out a packet, handing it to Tadashi, who looked at it questioningly.

"It's your papers, ID, and stuff. A bunch of it is just your original stuff, but a couple of things are new. You just have to declare your birthdate, since your old one doesn't make logical sense."

Tadashi blinked at Fred's explanation, before looked between him and the packet in his hands.

"Already?" Tadashi raised an eyebrow at Fred; that was unbelievably fast.

"Yup. Don't question me." Fred crossed his arms, leaning back slightly, looking very smug.

"I'm questioning you."

"Nope. Not allowed." Fred covered his ears, and Tadashi giggled softly.

"Thanks Fred."

Suddenly, Tadashi reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone, seeing that he had indeed missed the text message from Honey Lemon.

"I better call Honey to get her up to date."

"Sounds good. I'll set up the video games. I've been practicing on SSBB, and I'm going to beat you this time."

"Mhmm, sure you are."

Tadashi called Honey Lemon, but only got her voice mail. He left her a message about the test results and Fred's recent idiocy that ended well. Knowing Hiro would be busy helping Kyouji downstairs, Fred and Tadashi settled in for a long session of gaming.

**A.N.: The next chapter is already underway and should be up by Sunday. Also, as amalgamoffaces or amalgamoffaces-tadashilives on tumblr, I feel like roleplaying as either young Tadashi or Kyouji, if anyone is interested. Seriously, just send me an ask."


	18. Bittersweet

As the lunch rush calmed down, Hiro busied himself with showing Kyouji more of the things he would need to know for the times he'd be working on his own. Most of the tasks were pretty menial, if repetitive and time-consuming. Hiro wasn't entirely certain how quickly he should expect Kyouji to learn everything, since he was too aware that the innate ability to pick up on things quickly was not something shared by everyone.

Even within his group of friends, Hiro would find himself in the middle of saying something, only to look up and realize his ramblings had been impossible to follow. He wondered how many times he had unintentionally shut someone out of a conversation without realizing it. As it was, Kyouji seemed to catch on pretty fast.

In the very least, his short-term memory was good enough that Hiro had to point out that he could just write down the order's specifics on the previously untouched notepad when it got busy enough that Kyouji was trying to manage four orders at a time. He did well during the busiest parts of the day, when Hiro usually felt the most stressed, though he wasn't the most social person in the world. His task-oriented approach allowed him to work quickly, and it gave Hiro the free time talk with the customers to make up for Kyouji's reticent manner.

Despite his withdrawn nature, the initial responses from the regulars towards Kyouji were civil, even positive... except for Ms. Masuda. Hiro cringed when he saw her come through the door, and he had to wonder if she carried that umbrella around as a weapon, since it clearly wasn't going to rain anytime soon.

When she approached the counter, and Hiro tried to intervene by approaching her first, but she ignored him and directly addressed Kyouji with a "Hey, you."

To be fair, Kyouji didn't have a nametag or anything, but Hiro bristled at the occurrence: didn't the old lady have anything better to do than antagonize him? Kyouji ignored the rudeness and took her order in the same detached manner that he had taken everyone else's in, before retreating to put it together.

"I know you wanted to get out of working, but I didn't realize you'd be dumb enough to hire the first piece of trash that came through your door." Ms. Masuda readjusted the strap on her purse, looking around with a bored expression, as if she had been discussing the weather.

Hiro had never wanted to dump coffee on a customer as badly as he did at that moment. "Get out."

Ms. Masuda looked up in shock, speechless for a moment. "Excuse me?"

"I believe I asked you to leave. I won't tolerate people speaking about my employees that way, so unless you want to apologize to Kyouji, I'd suggest you make yourself scarce." Hiro crossed him arms, looking between Kyouji and the lady, who were wearing similar expressions of shock, which Hiro would have found amusing if he hadn't been so angry.

She stood there for a second, as if processing what had just happened, before she turned with a huff and walked out the door, closing it firmly behind her. Hiro let out a sigh.

_Well, that could have gone worse_.

"You really didn't have to do that..."

Hiro leaned against the counter, scowling at the door as he responded, "I disagree. She never has anything worthwhile to say, and I think this place is better off without her." Hiro nodded at the coffee Kyouji had been preparing for her, intent on changing the subject. "Do you want that?"

"Um, not really." Kyouji looked down at the cup, like he'd forgotten he was holding it.

"Gimme."

Kyouji handed over the drink, and Hiro took a large swig, before grimacing.

"Ugh, decaf. What's even the point if you can't get energy from it? No, thank you."

Kyouji laughed as Hiro dropped the cup into the trash.

* * *

><p>As the afternoon passed, no other incidents worthy of note occurred. Through some miracle, the infamous devil machine hadn't destroyed anything yet, and Hiro kept his fingers crossed in hopes that it would continue to behave. Hiro noted that Kyouji was comfortable whenever he was behind the counter, but that he seemed to withdraw into himself if he had to venture out into the crowd. He'd have to keep that in mind when divvying up duties.<p>

The café was nearly empty in the time between the lunch and dinner crowd, and Hiro busied himself with wiping down tables as Kyouji did some dishes. Hiro was debating the merits of stopping for a lunch break during the relative quiet when he heard Kyouji's stomach growl.

"Hungry?" Hiro laughed lightly, his dilemma having been solved for him, and shuffled towards the kitchen to make a couple of sandwiches.

Kyouji flushed a little, ducking his head and not saying anything.

Hiro put together a couple of overflowing sandwiches and put them on paper plates, pushing one of them towards Kyouji. The shocked look didn't really surprise Hiro; it was pretty obvious people didn't just offer him food. Hiro started on his own sandwich and looked at him as if he was daring him to refuse it.

"I can pay-"

Hiro quickly shook his head, swallowing his bite before speaking. "No need, my friends and I are always grabbing things from the café, feel free to do the same. Just be sure to mark it in inventory so we know when things will run out."

Hiro knew Aunt Cass would want it this way, anyways. She always fed any person who came in, regardless of whether they could pay or not.

"I- Thanks." Kyouji moved a strand of hair from his eyes before gingerly picking up the food and taking a huge bite of it.

Hiro grinned, before quickly finishing his own sandwich and disposing of the dish. When a couple came into the cafe, Kyouji moved as if to take their order, but Hiro made him sit down to finish eating, taking care of them himself.

The rest of the day went by slowly, with not many more customers coming in. Kyouji helped Hiro with the small tasks of closing the shop before leaving with a paper bag with some food in it that Hiro had practically shoved into his hands.

* * *

><p><em>This wasn't supposed to happen.<em>

Kyouji bit into his lower lip as he made his way to a nearby safe house, the paper bag clutched in one hand.

_Where were they a couple of years ago?_

Kyouji's thoughts were interrupted when he heard his phone ring in his pocket, which he quickly pulled out and checked the caller ID. He let out a breath of relief; it was only Himitsu. Still, it was strange for him to call so regularly.

"Hello?"

"I _see_ you."

"Way to be a creeper, Himitsu." Kyouji looked around, finally spotting the brunette leaning against the rail of a fire escape. "Don't you have anything better to do?"

"Hm... nope." Himitsu hung up before descending and coming to stand in front of Kyouji. "What's in the bag, Jadoku?"

"Just some food."

Himitsu chuckled. "Stealing from 'em already? Dang, man-"

"It was _given_ to me." Kyouji wasn't big on interrupting people, but why did he have to assume he stole everything he owned? Though... it was mostly true, if paying for things with stolen money counted.

"Well, isn't that sweet?" Himitsu's voice held a tinge of derision.

"Shove off, Himitsu." Kyouji ducked his head and started walking, but Himitsu stayed by his side.

"I did warn you." Himitsu walked with his hands tucked behind his head, glancing sideways at Kyouji. "People're always nicer when they think you belong."

"Just stop it." Kyouji glared at Himitsu, slipping his free hand into his pocket to hold one of his syringes. He wouldn't _use_ it, but the thought was comforting in a twisted way.

"No." Himitsu walked in front of Kyouji, stopping abruptly and forcing him to do the same. "You clearly need to hear this."

Kyouji moved to walk around him, but was stopped by a hand on his arm. "Don't touch me."

"Fine. But hear me out." Himitsu removed his hand, shoving both of them into his pockets. "Even if you bail on this- an' don't act like you didn't think of that- none of this'll last."

"I get it, Himitsu, I-"

"_I_ don't think you do. I'm surprised you _got_ the job, Jadoku. They know _nothing_ about who or _what_ you are."

"Well, _obviously_ not." Kyouji went to great lengths to hide his... condition. He was almost positive that even Himitsu didn't know the full extent of it. "Isn't that the idea?"

Himitsu sighed, running a hand over the back of his head as they continued walking. "Just keep your head in reality, and ya might want to brace yourself."

Kyouji sent a questioning look his way, and was answered with a grin.

"The Fujitas planned on meeting with ya today, and I said I'd pick ya up."

Kyouji felt like a block of ice had been dropped into his stomach. Himitsu laughed lightly at the brief expression of terror that flitted across his face.

"Come on, they aren't _that _bad." Himitsu tried a more comforting approach, but only received raised eyebrows in response.

_Uh... they actually are._

Himitsu continued, ignoring the incredulous looks Kyouji sent his way. "-'sides, they can't wait to meet ya. 'specially since they heard what ya can do. I don't think you'll have any issues."

None of this was in any way allaying Kyouji's fears. Himitsu turned onto a street that Kyouji hadn't had reason to go down in ages, and fell silent for a moment. "D'you see anything useful while you were in there, or were ya just wasting time?"

"I couldn't just wander around, but... I'm positive there's a living area upstairs, and the kid's comfortable enough to run around without shoes on." Kyouji shrugged. "I'd say the kid actually lives there, especially since Hiro- his guardian, I guess- locked the café up from the inside, but I don't know what's up there."

"Hm." Himitsu grinned. "Guess you'll just have to get 'em to take ya up there, unless ya can get him alone."

Kyouji scoffed. "Easier said than done." Glancing around, he made note of the route they were taking, on the off-chance that he had to make a run for it. "He's got this... posse, that spends time with him while Hiro's busy."

Kyouji ran a hand back through the strands of hair that had fallen in his face. "And if that wasn't enough, there's this... robot. He's some sort of first-aid kit with legs, but who knows what else it can do."

Himitsu paused for split-second before he started laughing. "Y-yer afraid of a first-aid kit?"

"That's not-!" Kyouji crossed his arms, walking slightly ahead of the other, though he wasn't exactly sure where he was going. "Ugh, that's not what I meant."

It had already been too close of a call when it had tried to scan him earlier that week, though he wasn't sure how specific of a scan it would have been. Maybe it was just an x-ray machine... or something. _Either way_, Kyouji thought as he absentmindedly pulled at the bandages on his left arm, _better safe than sorry_.

Besides that, Kyouji was well aware that things were often more than they appeared to be, and who's to say there weren't more creations lying around somewhere?

"It sounds like that's _exactly_ what you meant."

Kyouji spared a glare back at Himitsu, before slowing down so they were walking side by side again. "Even if it _can't_ do anything else, I'd rather the med-bot not announce something they don't need to know."

"Alright, alright." Himitsu chuckled.

The two lapsed into silence, allowing Kyouji's mind to return to the approaching meeting. As he put the paper bag into one of his jacket pockets, a thought occurred to him.

_What's Himitsu doing here, anyway? I thought he was staying out of this..._

Kyouji glanced over at him, taking in his unconcerned expression and easy stride. They were abnormal reactions to an upcoming meeting with such a threatening presence, but that was sort of how Himitsu approached everything.

They took another turn and were suddenly looking down a long street that ended in a cul-de-sac, with tall buildings enclosing the area. Leaning against the white doors of a van parked at the end of the street, were two... artistically bedecked women.

One was rather still, balancing on her skates as if waiting for an incentive to strike, while the other laughed and rolled her feet back and forth along the pavement. The laughing woman had one hand on a sharp-tipped parasol, and with the other was tapping out a rhythm on the side of the van.

It was the still woman who noticed the approaching pair first. With a grin, she shifted, allowing a spiked ball-and-chain to clang to the ground before she _moved_, flitting to a stop directly in front of Kyouji. If he hadn't been so shocked, he likely would have flinched back, but fear held him in place.

_At least she doesn't have her weapon in hand. _

The woman grinned as if he had passed some sort of test, before glancing back to her fellow Fujita. Leaning her parasol against the side of the van, she quickly approached her side, before giggling and skating in a small circle around the pair.

"So this is _Jadoku_." Coming to a complete standstill for the first time since Kyouji had seen her, the second woman's grin was becoming unsettling. Kyouji fixed his eyes on a point between and behind the two of them, keeping them in sight, but not looking either of them in the eye. "_Hm._"

She looked him up and down, scanning him as if looking for something. Her grin became a proper smile, and she leaned in towards him.

"I'm Bella, try to remember. It isn't difficult." She tilted her head slightly to the side. "I'd hate it if you forgot my name." Her smile widened before she continued. "I like your eyes."

_...what?_

Kyouji's eyes snapped to Bella's and another layer of unease fell into his stomach. Was he supposed to say something? The other woman spoke up before he could form any words.

"And I'm Shoki. We've heard quite a bit about you."

Kyouji glanced back at Himitsu for a second, before returning his eyes to the current -_threat_- speaker, who had apparently decided it was her turn to walk around him. Kyouji tried to ignore the growing feeling of being a cornered animal.

_Bella and... __Show-key__, __Showki__, Shouki? How would one spell that? Whatever, just don't forget, or they may kill you._

Apparently keeping an eye on Shoki was the wrong choice between the two women, and Kyouji nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand rest on his back and push upwards to his shoulder. As it was, Kyouji pulled away with something akin to a hiss, though the sound resulted from the surprising jolt of pain when his fangs momentarily flicked down and sliced open his tongue to help deal with the 'threat.'

**_Why_**_ do they have to __**do**__ that?_

The acrid taste of blood was not helping as Kyouji clenched his jaw and desperately tried to think of a way to keep the now pouting Fujita from deciding he had somehow offended her.

"-'ey, I _told_ you he doesn't like to be touched."

_Well, it was nice knowing you, Himitsu_.

Kyouji was surprised, however, when Bella did nothing more than cross her arms and lean back on her skates, pouting as she did so.

"I guess we'll get down to business, then." Shoki had reentered Kyouji's line of vision and he didn't know whether or not to be relieved about it. "Though it's doubtful, you may get the kid in the next couple of days, but we're aware it may take weeks. Whenever you do, activate the switch that was given to you, and get to a relatively safe place if you can. Otherwise, keep moving. We'll be able to track where you are when the beacon is on, and we will travel to the last known location should it turn off again."

"Don't turn it on if you don't have the kid. We have other things to do, and though this takes precedence, a false alarm will not reflect well upon you. Don't try and do this without us. Don't take the kid to a public safe house, and _whatever_ you do, don't let him die. Do your thing: drug him, paralyze him, however you refer to it, but know that from now until he is safely delivered, your life is tied to his. Clear?"

Kyouji nodded, not trusting his voice.

Apparently, this was an acceptable response, as Shoki smiled before turning and heading for the van with Bella close on her heels.

"It's a shame we can't stay and chat, but we've got a couple of other assignments we'd like to get out of the way before this one comes to fruition." Shoki grinned over her shoulder. "I'm sure we'll see you around, Jadoku."

Bella turned and waved. "_Bye_."

As the van disappeared down the street, Kyouji let out a sigh of relief and Himitsu started laughing.

"I'm so, so glad we didn't try this on the phone. Y-you do realize ya didn't say a _single_ word, right?" Himitsu approached Kyouji, slightly doubled over in laughter.

"Was it necessary to?" Kyouji turned to face Himitsu, trying to ignore the taste of his own blood. He ran his tongue over his teeth, grimacing when he realized he had only made it worse.

"Are you bleeding?" Himitsu moved a little closer as if trying to get a better look, to which Kyouji promptly backed away. "D'you bite your tongue or something?"

"Or something."

At Himitsu's questioning look, Kyouji realized he probably should have just agreed with him. However, after a moment he just shrugged at Kyouji, before turning to leave.

"Ja ne, Jadoku."

Kyouji waited until he was gone before he made himself comfortable on the curbside and pulled out the paper bag. Night was falling, and it would be nice to go to sleep with a full stomach.

**A.N.: The villains are getting _organized_. Updates are going to be tricky the way my schedule is working out, but I hope to keep them semi-consistent. Thank you those that reviewed :)**


	19. Let's Not Do Anything Illegal

**A.N. Thank you to those who read and enjoy, and a special thank you to you who read, enjoyed, and reviewed. Luck-of-the-Draw-207 (Silver-09) drew something for me that was pretty cool based on a PM conversation we had, you should go check it out! ( art/Rise-of-the-Phoenix-Gogo-and-Tadashi-514727758 ) It meant a lot to me.**

After locking up the café, Hiro headed upstairs to check on Fred and Tadashi. Fred had fallen asleep, and was sprawled out on the couch, while Tadashi sat on the floor, concentrating on the results from the previous tests. He looked like he was mentally debating something as his eyes flicked back and forth aimlessly; he didn't even notice Hiro approach him.

"Teddy." Hiro had to shake his brother's shoulder a little to snap him out of it.

"Hm?" Tadashi looked up, before glancing at the clock. "Is it that late already?"

Hiro laughed before going over to Fred and kicking his leg lightly. Fred muttered in his sleep and turned over, but misjudged how big the couch was and fell off with a loud 'oomph.'

The Hamada brothers laughed, and Hiro lent a hand to Fred to help him up.

"It's getting pretty late, Fred."

Fred hummed and pulled out his phone. He pressed a single button before putting it back in his pocket.

"Heathcliff's on the way." Still half-asleep, Fred curled back up on the couch to doze until his arrival.

Hiro turned to Tadashi with a grin. "Well, he seems normal to me."

"Hm... Maybe." Tadashi frowned. "I'm still confused, though."

Hiro inclined his head, prompting him to continue.

"I mean, he drank them, and he was healed. I didn't." Tadashi poked at his knee. "So, is it contact? If so, how close does it have to be to the injury? Did his chapped lips have anything to do with it?" Tadashi sighed. "There are too many variables..."

Hiro ruffled Tadashi hair, chuckling at the indignant squawks of protest. "You're making this more complicated than it needs to be."

Tadashi crossed his arms, clearly about to begin another lecture on the importance of tests and safety measures, but Hiro spoke first.

"It doesn't have any negative effects, whether you drink it or apply it directly, right?"

"Well, yeah..."

Hiro grinned. "Then who's to say you have to get it right the first try?" Hiro put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "If it can't hurt her, you've got plenty of time for multiple attempts."

"Hmm." Tadashi looked down, before giving Hiro the infamous 'I've made up my mind and I'll pout if you say no' look. "Can we go visit Aunt Cass tomorrow?"

Hiro blanched slightly, surprised by the abrupt change of heart. "Uh..."

Fred's phone gave off a low beep and he stumbled sleepily to the front door, wishing the Hamadas a good night as an afterthought.

Once Fred was gone, Tadashi turned back to his brother. Hiro still looked a bit uncertain. "Well, Wasabi's got class until 3:00, and I can't leave Kyouji on his own on his second day; that just wouldn't be fair. So, maybe after that?"

Tadashi nodded, and made his way towards the kitchen, with Hiro trailing behind him.

"What are you doing?" Hiro was a bit suspicious, but maybe Tadashi was hungry, although there were dirty dishes in the sink that indicated an earlier meal. Hiro didn't do anything further until he realized Tadashi had climbed up onto the stool and then the counter in order to reach the knives.

"Haha, no." Hiro pulled Tadashi into his arms and away from the counter. "Explanation first."

Tadashi frowned at him, before settling more comfortably in his arms so that Hiro's fingers weren't digging into his ribs. _Didn't Hiro know how and how not to hold a kid?_ "I just want to do some last minute testing."

"Of your healing tears... using knives... I'm going to say no to that one."

"But I want to try something!" Tadashi was full on pouting at this point. "I've still got two vials, I can do a bit with one of them and have plenty to spare."

Hiro sighed, before grabbing one of the smaller knives, but keeping it out of reach of Tadashi's grasp.

"If it's that important to you, we'll try it on me." When Tadashi started to protest, Hiro interrupted him. "It's that, or not at all. I won't do any serious damage that I couldn't live with. Besides, don't you want to make sure Fred's wasn't a fluke? I mean, it was chapped lips and a headache; those go away pretty quickly anyway. Trying it on another person might settle your mind."

Hiro had him there. Tadashi made a small sound of assent before he was lowered to the ground and went to grab the extra vial. Hiro grabbed a couple of paper towels and a small cup, and took a seat on the kitchen floor. When Tadashi came back with the vial, Hiro poured a small amount into the cup before recapping the vial and setting it aside.

"Since we know one thing that _does_ work, let's start with what we aren't sure about." Hiro made a small nick on his thumb with the knife, wincing slightly. Tadashi didn't look too happy about it, but Hiro waved off his concern.

"Bottoms up." Hiro downed the liquid, but there was no visible change. "Hm. Didn't think so, but I guess we'll wait a bit."

Tadashi looked a bit worried, but Hiro simply placed one of the paper towels under his finger and watched the clock on the kitchen stove until five minutes had passed. His finger was still bleeding. "I guess drinking it doesn't work, then."

Hiro opened the palm of the injured hand, and with a little help from Tadashi, poured some of the tears into his cupped hand, before simply holding them for a bit. There was no change. "Okay, not _just_ contact."

Hiro looked like he was contemplating something, before he indicated towards the knife and held out his other hand. "Can you make another small incision on this hand, so I can see something?"

Tadashi hesitated, before realizing that Hiro could just heal himself with what he had in the palm of his hand. Taking the knife, he applied as little pressure as possible to Hiro's pointer finger and stopped the second he saw a hint of blood.

"Thanks." Hiro then lowered his thumb into the palm of his hand where the liquid was and watched it seam back together flawlessly. He then watched his other hand expectantly. Tadashi looked at him questioningly.

"What are you-"

"Yes! I thought so!" Hiro held out the finger Tadashi had cut towards him.

It was completely healed.

"It travels through the bloodstream, definitely." Hiro looked very certain.

"But Fred-"

"Had chapped lips. He'd made them bleed, don't you remember me telling him off for it?"

"Yeah..." Tadashi's brow creased in concern. "But that means Aunt Cass would need to have an open wound..."

Hiro gave him a deadpan look, as if he was missing something obvious. "You're the medical nerd. Think for a sec."

"But—oh." Tadashi paused as the thought occurred to him, but quickly shook his head. "Isn't putting things in someone's IV without authorization illegal? And won't that cause problems?"

"Well... it could." Hiro grinned. "Unless you know how to get away with it."

Tadashi glanced up at him. "...I have some concerns."

"No, don't worry. We just need a diabetic insulin needle-"

"Which you need a prescription to buy."

"–or we could inject it directly and risk someone seeing the injection site when they are checking her over before sending her home."

"Wouldn't the tears just heal the injection site if we did that?"

"I—oh, yeah." Hiro ran a hand through his hair sheepishly. "I guess we could do that, if it would ease your conscience... though that's probably just as illegal."

"At least this way we aren't messing up medical equipment."

Hiro simply patted his head as he stood up and made his way to his room. "Whatever helps you sleep at night."

Tadashi paused. "And why do you know how to mess with an IV, anyway?"

"Wow, look at the time, I better be getting to bed." Hiro feigned a stretch, ignoring Tadashi's question.

"Hiro?" Hiro still refused to answer his question. "Hiro. Hiro. Hiiiiiro. Hiro. Answer me, Hiro."

"Teddy? Teddy. Ted-dy. Two can play at this game. Teddy, Teddy. Teddy."

"_Augh_! Hiro! Just tell me!"

"Tell you what?" Hiro grinned down at Tadashi, who just threw his hands in the air before going over to his bed and climbing up onto his chair to flop onto the bed.

"Mf mifh muf."

"Sorry, I didn't catch that." Hiro turned on his computer, and light spilled across the darkened room.

"I said: I give up. My brother's a delinquent."

"I don't think you said that much."

"Hm."

* * *

><p>Tadashi watched as people came in, got their orders, and left for <em>three hours<em>. Glancing at the clock again, he wondered if he could force time to go faster. So far, he had proven unsuccessful. The hour hand was still stubbornly stuck at ten, and the minute hand was taking its sweet time to get to the five.

He also had a bad case of the jitters. It was so bad that at one point a kind lady had asked if he needed to know where the restroom was. He'd gone along with it, even thanking her when she pointed it out. What else was he going to do?

_No, ma'am. I'm just anxiously waiting for my friend to get out of his doctorate level classes so my bigger younger brother can take me to see my comatose aunt, who could possibly die at any second, but I could heal her, if I could just get to her. We could be there right now, but apparently getting the general populace their daily coffee on time is more important._

Tadashi sighed and buried his head in his arms. He knew he should probably go do something productive, but he just couldn't _focus_. He heard the obnoxious bells on the door ring, and he looked up to see another person enter the café.

_Hm, wasn't expecting to see her._

Gogo stopped by the counter, exchanging a few words with Hiro and Kyouji, before she turned and made her way over to where Tadashi was sitting.

"Come on, Teddy. I've got something to show you."

"But I-"

"Need to be back by three, yeah, I know." Gogo started towards the door, and Tadashi hurried to keep up with her.

"Where are we going?" Tadashi looked up at Gogo, who simply continued walking once they were outside the café, instead of leading them to a vehicle of some kind. "Gogo?"

"It isn't far." Gogo grinned down at Tadashi. "Do you think you can make it, Teddy?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Not really."

* * *

><p>Gogo led Tadashi to something that looked like a cross between a garage and an amusement park... if the rides weren't allowed to be connected to the track.<p>

_This suits her..._

Tadashi followed closely behind Gogo, flinching when a cyclist swerved away from them a little later than he was comfortable with. Gogo seemed completely unperturbed as she let the chaos flow around her and made her way to the back of the building. There were a few concrete cubicles, and Gogo made a sharp turn into the second one on the left.

Tadashi entered just as Gogo was removing a small metal contraption from a stand and hanging it on a bicycle mount reminiscent of the one she had had at SFIT.

_That is a bike. That is a small bike. That is a kid-sized bike. Oh no._

Gogo took a step back, clearly proud of her work, and took out a small notepad.

"So, what do you think?"

Tadashi took a better look at the bike, noting that the wheels were maglev suspended, though there was a connector on both sides to hold them in place, as opposed to the single-sided one he remembered from Gogo's prototype. Other than that, it looked like a normal bike, except...

"Please tell me this has brakes." Tadashi was not reassured when Gogo started jotting something down on her notepad.

"...add brakes... Okay, anything else?"

"And kid's bikes usually have training wheels..."

"You don't need them." Gogo said this with absolute certainty, but Tadashi was well aware that he didn't have the balance that he used to possess. However, it would be nearly impossible to convince Gogo otherwise; he was surprised she had so readily agreed to brakes.

"Uh... okay. Um..." Tadashi was drawing a blank. "I can't think of anything else."

Gogo nodded and was about to put away the notepad when she turned again to Tadashi. "What color? I was going to just paint it pink, but Honey Lemon would probably steal it from you, then."

Tadashi laughed as he pictured Honey Lemon in her high heels and lab coat on the tiny pink bike, making her way through the streets of San Fransokyo.

_She could do it, too._

"Could it be green... or yellow? Can you make it both?"

Gogo rolled her eyes, as if he had asked a stupid question, but smiled anyway. "Of course I can."

Tadashi grinned. "That, then."

Making a quick note, Gogo walked over to the cluttered desk that had been shoved in the corner of the room. "Last chance for any suggestions."

"I'm good."

"Okay." Gogo set the notepad amongst the other various items scattered across the desk. Tadashi hoped she would be able to find it again, or at least remember that brakes were necessary.

**A.N. I'm planning on having the Aunt Cass visit in the next chapter, which will be out faster than this one was.**


	20. Rise and Shine?

**A.N.: Thank you for your patience, I've been going back and forth on how I wanted this chapter to go, but I'm finally happy with it. Thank you for the lovely reviews!**

* * *

><p>When Tadashi had returned to the café and Wasabi took over for Hiro, the brothers went to gather what they needed for the hospital visit from upstairs. Tadashi tried not to question Hiro when he unwrapped a small syringe from the sterile packaging it had been shipped in, but the look he gave him prompted an explanation: after Tadashi had gone to bed, Hiro had ordered a handful of the syringes, through <em>completely legal means. <em>His connection to hospitals did have to pay off eventually. Next day shipping allowed the small package to arrive while Tadashi was with Gogo.

Drawing the orange liquid up into the syringe, Tadashi flicked it a couple of times to get rid of air bubbles, and contracted it until the only thing in it was the tears. He capped the syringe with a tiny piece of foam and slipped it into his pocket. The more they could get done at home, the better, since Tadashi still felt like they could get into major trouble for what they were doing.

The brothers borrowed Wasabi's van, but only after Hiro made multiple promises to not damage it or others in any way[AF1] . The ride to the hospital was quiet, as Hiro attempted to drive semi-responsibly, and Tadashi sat in the backseat, twisting and folding his fingers together. Tadashi barely noticed when they pulled into the parking lot, and it was only at his brother's prompting that he climbed out of the van.

Tadashi felt his nerves begin to override the more hopeful side of his brain.

_What if it doesn't work- we only tested it on three people- this could still hurt her- what if I hurt her?_

Tadashi began to tremble as doubts he thought he had laid to rest resurfaced in his mind. He reached over to grab Hiro's sleeve and made no objections when Hiro picked him up to carry him. He tucked his face into the crook of his brother's neck and didn't look up until they entered room 214 and he was set down so he could stand next to the bed. Hiro lowered the bed to the point that Tadashi could rest his elbows easily on top of the mattress.

"Hey, Aunt Cass." Tadashi spoke in a hushed whisper, as if to someone sleeping. It was how he liked to picture it. Aunt Cass was sleeping, but now it was time to wake her up. Tadashi clasped one of her hands where it lay on top of the blanket and gently turned it so the inner wrist was facing up. "Hiro and I came to visit you again, just like we promised."

Hiro occupied himself with moving so that he blocked the view of Tadashi from the lone security camera in the room. He did his best to not actually look at it, but he still knew exactly what it covered from his own not-quite-legal hacking of its recordings so he could monitor his aunt's condition from home. He couldn't spend _all_ his time at the hospital, though there were times when he wanted to.

Tadashi looked up at Hiro, who nodded discretely at the unasked question, before reaching into his pocket and withdrawing the syringe. It was far too easy to pick out a vein because of how pale she had become. After uncapping the syringe, Tadashi mentally begged his hands not to shake, and, by some stroke of luck, he hit the vein on the first attempt. As steadily as he could, Tadashi injected the orange liquid at a rate slow enough to avoid overloading the vein.

Withdrawing the needle from his aunt's arm and slipping it back into his pocket, Tadashi watched the injection site quickly seal itself.

Hiro shuffled over to the monitoring machines to check her brain activity and grinned as he saw it steadily rise out of its dreamless state. He turned to point it out to Tadashi, but paused when he noticed how closely Tadashi was watching her face, searching for any signs of wakefulness. He sighed quietly. Who knew how long it might take? Even if the physical aspects were fixed, there was the possibility that she might not _want_ to wake up, or be aware that she _could_. Hiro didn't expect as much out of this trip as Tadashi clearly did.

Tadashi had his gaze fixed his aunt's eyelids, searching for some telltale flicker or movement to show that it was _working_. Tadashi was determined that she was going to wake up.

_She just has to_.

"Aunt Cass... Please... please wake up..." Tadashi leaned forward and rested his chin on his arms, in a subconscious attempt to hide his quivering lower lip. Tears pricked the back of his eyes as he attempted to mentally compel her to open hers. "Please... just..."

Tadashi trailed off and there was still no apparent change. He closed his eyes briefly, before opening them with a new look of determination. "I'm not giving up on you."

_Maybe we can come back later, with another dose; maybe there was so much damage that one dose wouldn't cover it; maybe if I just-_

Tadashi stilled, and his heart caught in his throat.

_Did she just—_

It was the slightest of movements, a small stirring of her head, but it was enough to make Tadashi freeze, as if his own movements might discourage hers. Her closed eyelids tightened, before relaxing. Her eyes opened, and she squinted at the bright lighting of the room. Tadashi struggled to remember how to breathe.

"A-aunt Cass?"

She turned toward the sound of Tadashi's voice, looking confused for a moment, before she smiled tiredly and moved her hand across the mattress top to gently cup his face.

"Hey, sweetie." Her voice was rough from a year of non-use, and her hand was shaking with the effort it took to lift it.

Tadashi brought his smaller hands up to support her arm as he bit his lip and tried to think of something to say. His mind was moving too quickly to process actual words, and the state of shock he was in left his tongue tied in knots. He screwed his eyes shut against the increasing warmth and tightness manifesting behind them.

_Now is not the time for tears; it would only freak her out more than she is about to be._

His shoulders started shaking as she gently ran a thumb along his cheek in a soothing motion that used to be _so familiar_ that he hadn't even realized he had missed it. He slipped his hand into hers and removed her hand from his face, holding it between his own.

_What is going on in her mind? _

"Did you come here on your own, Tadashi? Your parents must be worried."

Tadashi's eyes widened, and he shook his head.

_So she thinks... _

"Hiro's here, too."

Hiro had placed himself at the foot of the bed, having had to restrain himself from running over the instant she woke up. Things were complicated enough; it was best to take things one step at a time. At Tadashi's mention he moved around to them and crouched down by the side of the bed so that she wouldn't have to turn her head.

"Hey, Aunt Cass..."

Her eyebrows drew together in confusion, before rising in realization, and then lowering in worry.

"Hiro? But..." She tightened her grip on Tadashi's hands, though even then it wasn't a very firm one, and spoke to Hiro. "C-can you see him? Is he here?"

"Yeah, don't worry, Aunt Cass." Hiro placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Tadashi is here."

"But - " She looked between the two siblings, but was interrupted when her attendant bustled into the room, along with a doctor and a handful of other nurses. Word had gotten out that their patient had awoken.

* * *

><p>In the chaos that surrounded working out the details of Aunt Cass's continued care, the boys were almost pushed from the room, and Tadashi would forever deny having used his puppy-dog pout to get them permission to stay.<p>

The physicians were amazed at her ability to move on her own at all, as well as the control she already had over her speech. When they had finally finished checking the various machines and conferring between themselves, they began the process of transferring Cass to a room more suitable for recovery.

During this process, one of the doctors approached Hiro and asked if it would be appropriate to assign Hiro's care-bot to his aunt, since it did not currently have a primary patient. Hiro nodded, but cringed at the look Tadashi sent him while the doctor's back was turned. Hiro added it to the mental list of things he had failed or forgotten to tell his brother. He was certainly going to get an earful later, especially since it would tie quite nicely into the topic of his modifications of Baymax, which Tadashi hadn't had the chance to address fully.

As the physicians were busy moving their aunt, the boys ventured into the hallway. There was a vending machine standing proudly a short distance from them. Hiro found the grin that came over Tadashi's face a bit unsettling.

He pushed over a chair and punched in a request, before asking for and swiping Hiro's card as payment. Pushing through the plastic flap, Tadashi pulled out a package of gummy bears, the last one that had been in the machine. Opening the bag, he ate one before looking up at Hiro as if in an afterthought.

"Oh, did you want some?" The grin on his face took on an almost evil aura.

Hiro crossed his arms and assumed the most aloof facial expression he could muster. "I am a _mature adult_. I no longer give into my addictions."

Tadashi shrugged, not believing him for a second, but willing to play along. "Okay." He began to consume them at a faster pace.

Hiro's face twitched. "...but I need to teach you the value of sharing. Gimme some."

He reached out a hand to either receive a proper offering or snatch them should Tadashi refuse. Tadashi simply laughed and moved out of reach.

"But I thought you didn't want any." The small bag was almost empty at this point.

"Sharing is caring." Hiro made a last attempt to get the bag, but just when he had a hold of it, Tadashi shocked him into letting go when he _licked his hand._

"Augh! Tadashi!" The five year old laughed at the disgusted look on Hiro's face as he wiped his hand clean on his jeans. "Really?"

"What?" Tadashi gave a fake innocent look that Hiro didn't buy for a microsecond. "Sharing is caring! I'm sharing my germs!"

Tadashi crumpled up the empty bag before offering up the last red gummy bear to his brother. Hiro debated refusing it on principle, but accepted it anyway.

He didn't have a problem...

* * *

><p>Once Cass was settled in her new room, and the hospital personnel had finally filed out, the brothers brought up chairs to their aunt's bedside.<p>

"Now that that excitement is over, do you boys mind filling me in on what you've been up to? And maybe explaining all..." she gestured to Tadashi "...this?"

The brothers exchanged looks, trying to determine who should speak first, what they shouldn't tell her, and how much to tell her about Tadashi's state of being.

"That bad, huh?" Aunt Cass smiled wearily, the events of the afternoon having depleted her limited reserves of energy. The brothers would have to keep it brief for this visit.

"It-it's complicated." Tadashi ran a hand across the back of his neck. How does one break the news to their aunt that he wasn't exactly... human?

_Though she did take my existence pretty well..._

Cass laughed softly. "I don't have anywhere to be. Take your time."

Tadashi glanced at Hiro, who so helpfully shrugged.

"I..." Tadashi hesitated. After explaining his situation so often, it should have gotten easier, not harder. "A-after the fire... or during it... I... reset. Long story short, it took five years for my old memories to resurface, and I found Hiro again... a little under a week ago."

Tadashi paused. _Has it really not even been a week, yet?_

Hiro rolled his eyes at the minimal explanation his brother had given, and when it seemed like he was lost in thought, Hiro decided to explain the more colorful aspects of his return.

In a hushed voice, Hiro detailed the strange physical aspects he had originally noticed about his suddenly younger brother, and Baymax's diagnosis. He left out the healing tears; they could talk about that when a passing orderly wouldn't overhear them.

"I thought he felt a little warm." Cass reached out and placed a shaking hand on Tadashi's forehead, checking his temperature.

Hiro laughed at the understatement. "Yeah, apparently his DNA is all messed up. He's still himself, but... more." He shrugged. "There's not been any negative effects so far – " Tadashi glared at his brother. " - well, not for him, anyway. We're working on it..."

Aunt Cass sighed and leaned back against the pillows with a wry smile. "So, they were right."

Tadashi froze.

_...what?_

A quick glance at his brother let him know that he was equally confused.

"W-what do you mean?"

Their aunt smiled softly. "Did I ever tell you how your parents met?"

Tadashi nodded. "They worked together..." _but what does that..._

She nodded. "Your mother was a scientist in the biological department at Krei Tech, while your father was an intern who agreed to participate in her research as a test subject."

_Where is this going? _

"Their goal was positive human improvement, though your father was quite the sci-fi fan." She laughed at the memory. "My brother was nearly obsessive with it when he was younger, and he never quite grew out of it. He had quite a few suggestions for her research. I think his enthusiasm was part of what initially brought them together..."

She sighed, sadness filling her expression before she slightly shook her head and smiled again. "However, my brother constantly complained that nothing seemed to come of the experiments. Anything they added just... disappeared. He figured the original DNA just rewrote itself. The experiments came to an end, though the theoretical research continued. They married, had you - " she bopped Tadashi lightly on the nose " - and eventually moved on to other projects, ones that were more... useful. And realistic. They left Krei Tech, and your father decided he would be a doctor."

Tadashi smiled softly, though his mind was racing. He had a million questions and another million theories, but he could wait until his aunt had finished talking.

_Interrupting is rude. _

"Whenever I watched you as a child, they asked me to keep an eye out for anything strange, just in case, but as the years passed, and Hiro was born, it seemed that nothing would come from it. You were a perfectly normal, if adventurous and dangerously brave, child." Her smile slipped from her face.

"A couple of years after Hiro was born, they found out someone had gotten their hands on their research shortly after they had left, and was continuing it... with fewer reserves than your parents had had." Anger and sadness twisted her face. "Their primary subject had become pregnant, but they continued anyway, and whatever they did was likely what killed her. Your parents, especially your mother, objected strongly, but waivers had been signed all around, and her research was property of Krei Tech."

Tadashi felt sick to his stomach. _This was..._

"No laws had been broken, and before your mother could pursue anything further..." Cass bit her lip, and her eyes became glassy. "...there was the accident."

Tadashi suddenly became very interested in how his hands rested on the mattress as he blinked away the feeling of tears.

"When I took you two in, any thought of what you might be was about as far from my mind as it could be. Over the years, I completely forgot." She laughed humorlessly. "You two were quite a handful." Her smile was genuine.

Tadashi felt Hiro's arm wrap around his shoulders, and he looked up at him with a small smile.

"Well, at least we know you weren't abducted at some point, or anything."

Tadashi rolled his eyes at Hiro's lame attempt at a joke, though his smile grew a little.

Their aunt settled more firmly on her pillows and seemed to be close to sleep, so the brothers said their goodbyes and got their multiple hugs before leaving with the promise to return when she was more awake.

* * *

><p>**A.N.: "Aunt Cass recovered her voice and movement surprisingly fast for a coma patient, the real world doesn't work that way." Yes, I'm aware; I did it on purpose :). Artistic license is so much fun. I'm trying to return to my regular schedule of updating, but it's difficult. I'll do my best.**<p> 


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